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i OVERLAND LIBRARY NO. 2. 


STORIES AND NOVELS 


FROM THE GERMAN 


FANNY LEWALD. 


I. 


contents: 

THE ARISTOCRATIC WORLD. — THE MAID OF OYAS. 




CHICAGO: 

L. SCHICK, PUBLISHER. 




Entered accordin,£^ to act of Congress, in the year 1885, by 
LOUIS SCHICK, 

in the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 


THE 

ARISTOCRATIC WORLD. 

[From the German of Fanny Lewald.] 


1885, 


L. SCHICK. 


\_f,t 


Entered accordinjE? to act of Congress, in the year 1885, by 
LOUIS SCHICK, 

in the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 


THE 

ARISTOCRATIC WORLD. 

[From the German of Fanny Lewald.] 


GHT, 1885 


L. SCHICK. 


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The hour for promenading was about over. Onl}' 
a few persons were still strolling down the broad avenue 
singl}" or in couples, some with a rapid step, others more 
leisurely, on their wa}^ to their hotels or restaurants ; for 
the supper hour came earl}" and the day closed betimes, as 
is the custom at all German watering-places. 

Near the Kurhaus, in the shade of the large group 
of plane-trees, two gentlemen were seated upon the round 
stone settee. They were both approaching middle age and 
l)oth evidently belonged to the aristocratic world. One 
was a man of medium size. His strikingly dark com- 
jilexion, his black eyes with their long and narrow open- 
ings, and a head whose shape reminded one of Asia, 
indicated the Russian. The other, who might have been 
the senior of his companion by six or seven years, was a 
Frenchman. 

They had met quite unexpectedly a few hours before, 
after a long separation, and were relating to each other 
their experiences since their last meeting, in a lively con- 
versation, when suddenly the Frenchman observed a pass- 
ing couple with some surprise, and immediately afterward 
became so silent that there w"as something noticeable in 
the pause that ensued, following upon the bright vivacity 
with which he had carried on the conversation hitherto. 


0 


THE ARISTOCRATIC WORLD. 


“What are you thinking about, Marquis?” inquired 
the Russian. “You have become perfectly silent.” 

“ I was thinking how often it happens that, all at once, 
remote scenes and conceptions awake in our minds, and 
memory recalls persons and events that we have not 
thought of for many years, or at most, onl}" rarely and 
superficially. How maiw single impressions must be stored 
away within us ; how lightly and vet how indelibl}^ the}^ 
must stamp themselves upon us, for us to carry them 
around with us always, without lieing aware of it, to have 
them rise up distinctly and uncompromisingl}^ before us 
at times without our volition, and often very much against 
our will, and, for- the moment, take complete possession 
of us.” 

“Doubtless it was the lady who just passed us that 
led you into this train of thought.” 

“ How do you know that? ” 

“The slender one, with the long dark tresses? ” 

“ Certainly, she was the very one ! But once again, 
Baron, what made you think so? ” 

“Because she struck me also when I first looked 
at her.” 

“She resembles Natalie Yerefkin.” 

“Yes, but Natalie was more beautiful!” said the 
Russian. 

“And how is she? AVhere is she living?” asked the 
Marquis. 

“ So you do not know — but, indeed, now I remember 
that you went directly from Stockholm to your new post in 
America. Natalie is dead ! ” 

“Dead? — and how long since? ” 

“Two 3’ears ; she died here.” 

“ How sad ! she was very beautiful 1 ” exclaimed the 
Frenchman, and then, recalling the past, he said, “To tell 


THE ARISTOCRATIC WORLD. 


7 


the truth, I 011I3" saw her a few times when I used to go to 
Stockholm with a message to our ambassador, fourteen 
years ago. She was famous as a beauty even at that time, 
but I found her charming be^^ond all m}^ expectations.” 

‘4der attraction,” the other rejoined, “did not lie in 
her beauty alone, but in her apparent reserve and coldness. 
You stood in her presence as before a sph3"nx. You could 
not believe that this girl loved no one but her parents and 
brothers. You looked into her large dark eyes and asked 
3^ourself: what is going on in her soul? — of what is she 
thinking? — at what is she smiling? You felt 3^ourself 
attracted, fascinated. ...” 

The Russian stopped in the midst of his remarks — 
perhaps he regretted having spoken so warml3'. He then 
continued : “I completed my diplomatic course in Count 
Veref kin’s house and under his guidance, and, as you 
know, remained with him as his assistant until I succeeded 
him in his position. I saw Natalie grow up, I knew her, 
or supposed I knew her, from her earliest childhood — and 
I was completety deceived in regard to her.” 

“ So she was a coquette? ” 

“ On the contraiy ! As long as the famil3^ remained 
all together, Natalie was entirel3" absorbed in her ideal love 
for her family. The tenderness of those dearest to her 
sufficed her, and on the other hand, she was sufficient unto 
herself — that any one could long for her love never occur- 
red to her, because of her indifference to everything which 
did not pertain to her immediate famil3^ It was a famil3" 
love which you would either admire, or find unendurable.” 

“The old Countess Yerefkin, it seems to me, died 
shortty after my departure from Stockholm,” the Marquis 
observed. 

“Yes,” the Russian rejoined, “and her sons soon fol- 
lowed her. The oldest, who was also an idealist, a poet, 


8 


THP^ ARISTOCRATIC WORLD. 


shot himself on account of a love-affair, and the other son 
fell in the Caucasus. Blow after blow they came. The 
Count aged terribly fast; Natalie grew still more reserved. 
She was now her father’s only remaining child, and she 
had always been his darling, his idol. For a long time the 
father and daughter were rarely seen outside of their house, 
never without one another. For Natalie there was no one 
liut her father on earth.” 

“So she was a good daughter?” 

“A model, until she suddenly and exactl}^ at the 
wrong time, remembered that she was a woman and had a 
right to follow her passion blindly and regardless of con- 
sequences, like a true woman.” The Bussian came to an 
abrupt stop, arose, carefully buttoned his coat and light 
overcoat, took the Marquis’ arm and said : “ Come, my 

friend ! It is late, the mist is rising; ” and however much 
the other might have wished to learn more of Natalie’s 
fate, he could not make any further inquiries about her, as 
Baron AT>n x\nninkoff did not seem willing to pursue the 
subject. 

* * 

* 

As the remembrance of beautiful Natalie Verefkin 
had been awakened in the Maix^uis’ mind by the sight of 
that unknown lady, so now, after liis interview with the 
Bussian ambassador, certain facts relating to that lad}' 
dawned upon his recollection. He remembered hearing 
Anninkoff’s passion for his chief’s fair daughter spoken of 
in Stockholm at that time. It also occurred to him that 
he had heard of Natalie’s unhappy marriage to Count 
Mansurow and that some of his acquaintances had asserted 
that they had seen her at different times and in various 
places without her husband. But all this only made him 
more anxious to learn something definite in regard to her. 


THE ARISTOCRATIC WORLD. 


0 


I 


and the S3nnpatli3' he felt for Aiininkoff, who evideiitl}' still 
thought of Natalie wdth sorrow, increased this desire. 

Both gentlemen happened to be sta^dng at the same 
liotel. The^' moved in the same social circles, the springs 
also brought them together, so that the}" spent almost the 
whole day in each other’s society. Yet almost an entire 
week passed away without an}" further mention of the 
Yerefkin family or even of Natalie, by Baron Anninkoft' 
and the Marquis, engi’ossed in the pleasures of seeing so 
many old acquaintances once more, had not found the 
inclination nor the opportunity to touch again upon the 
Baron’s communications on the subject. One morning, 

, however, after the springs had been visited, and the two 
^ companions were about to return to breakfast, Anninkoff 
entered a florist’s shop, inspected several wreaths, selected 
the handsomest and took it with him. 

When they were again proceeding on their way, the 
Marquis impiired whether it w"as the birthday of some one 
in Anninkoff’s circle of acquaintances. 

“Not a birthday, but an anniversary, and you know 
we Russians keep them sacredly. This is the anniversary 
of the Countess of Mansurow"’s death. As I happen to be 
here, her grave shall not be without flowers today.” 

The IMarquis insisted upon carrying a token of remem- 
brance to the dead on his own behalf. So they returned 
to the florist’s, purchased a second wreath, and, when 
the gentlemen 'were alone together again in Anninkolf’s 
apartments, after breakfast, the Marquis said : “ You are 
still owing me the story, dear friend, to which I now have 
almost a right, after your recent communications in regard 
to Natalie Veref kin’s sad fate, and surely the best and 
most appropriate way to spend the anniversary of our 
friend’s death is by dwelling upon her memory. That 
Natalie had married Count Mansurow and that the mar- 


10 


THE ARISTOCRATIC WORLD. 


riage was an unhappy one, was all that I had learned con- 
cerning her, until I was informed of her death by 3'ou.” 

“To recall that woman’s life on the anniversary of her 
death seems like extending her miser}" beyond the grave. 
Blit so be it ! ” rejoined the Baron. “ I am probably the 
only one who can explain to you that part of Natalie’s 
conduct which always remained so incomprehensible to the 
people who knew her, and it is better that you should 
learn about her from my lips than from a stranger’s. I 
hope that in this way one more friend will be won for the 
memory of that unhappy woman.” 

He seated himself in an easy chair which was stand- 
ing at the right of the sofa, handed the box of cigars to 
the Marquis, lighted a fresh cigar for himself, and after 
the servant, at a word from his master, had remo’S"ed the 
breakfast dishes, and received orders not to admit any 
visitors, Anninkoff commenced his story : 

“ About two years and a half after you were with us, 
occurred the marriage of the Crown Prince of Sweden to 
the Princess Louise of Orange, and the Czar intended to 
send a special message of congratulation to them at Stock- 
holm. AVe had expected that the Czar would send one of 
the older generals, but we received the intelligence that he 
had appointed Count Mansurow as his messenger. It was 
a great honor for the Count, who was very young at the 
time, but it caused no especial surprise, for Sergius Feodo- 
rovitch was the recognized favorite of the Czar, and had 
been laden with evidences of the latter’s partiality from his 
earliest childhood, having even been appointed adjutant 
when he was only twenty-six years of age. 

“ I had last seen the Count when he was just emerg- 
ing from his teens. He gave promise, even at that time, 
of an imposing appearance in the future, but yet I was 
astonished when he appeared among us. He had grown 


THE ARISTOCRATIC WORLD. 


11 


tall and broad-chested, like the Czar himself, and had the 
same severely classical features — but Sergius Feodorovitch, 
as his inheritance from his mother, possessed the magnifi- 
cent, dark curly hair and the passionate, melting glance of 
Juliana Ivanovna, and I must acknowledge that I have 
never seen a handsomer man. Cherished by destiny, 
favored b}' the Czar, as I said, in every wa}’^, he had the 
self-consciousness of a prince and the blindest confidence 
in his luck. It was known that he had infiuence with the 
Czar, that the latter would occasional!}" allow or overlook 
in him what he would not have permitted nor forgiven in 
any other case, and 3-011 can imagine what a position this 
must have ensured the 3'oung man in societ}^ His mother 
besides, as the onl}- daughter of her house, had inherited a 
large fortune, and had been presented later with still more 
important estates in the district of Tver, and when she died 
the fifteen 3"ear old Sergius was her onl}- heir. With all this, 
he was well educated, with intelligence, wit, and exquisite 
manners. The men sought him out and fiattered him, the 
w'omen welcomed him with open arms. The}^ found him 
irresistible, and he turned their heads with the more cer- 
taint}", as he hardly attempted to conceal the fact that he 
had hitherto found pleasure in their societ}- rather than 
sought their love and given his in return.” 

“ Of course,” interrupted the Marquis with a sarcastic 
smile, “ever}" one of them is ambitious to become our first 
teacher in real love, and, unfortunately, we thus often be- 
come prematurely enlightened in regard to love and our 
fair teachers.” 

“ When Mansurow’s approaching arrival was first dis- 
cussed, Natalie heard everything I have just told you in 
the general conversation. The extravagant love affairs 
which he had earned on were alluded to ; the fact that the 
Mariotti, the star of the St. Petersburg ballet at that time, 


12 


THE ARISTOCRATIC WORLD. 


had captivated him, was discussed. Mention was made of 
the extreme luxury in which he lived, that at times he 
gambled passionately and that he had recentl}’ sold one of 
the estates in the district of Tver, to release himself from 
various embarrassments. When we arose from the supper 
table afterward, Natalie remarked : 

am really very curious to make tlie acquaintance 
of this much-discussed Count ! ’ 

“This remark struck me unpleasantl}”. Was it a pre- 
sentiment of evil? -was it the prescience of m 3 " jealous}'? 
I had at that time much affection for Natalie, I knew also 
that her father would ask nothing better than to give her 
to me as 1113 ^ wife, and as she had addressed her remarks 
to me, I therefore said to her : ‘ Take care, Natalie ! ’ 

“ ‘ Take care of what? ’ she asked. 

“‘We ought not to pla}' with fire, nor go to seek 
danger. ’ 

“ ‘ Certainl}' not, if we are afraid of disaster. ’ 

“ ‘ Are 3 'ou so certain of the contraiy? ’ 

“She turned her e 3 'es full upon me and said with a 
smile : 

“‘You need not woriy about me, Josef Petrovitch. 

1 abhor those irresistible men with whom all the women are 
in love.’ 

“It was this very defiant confidence which alarmed 
me, but it all came about more rapidl}' and worse than 1 
had expected. Sergius Feodorovitch arri^'ed and was re- 
ceived b}' the Count with the courtes}' and distinction 
which the position and circumstances of the youthful im- 
perial adjutant and messenger made imperative, and his 
cleverness, his vivacity, entertained the Count. We were 
in the midst of the festivities which succeeded the Crown 
Prince’s wedding: receptions at court, parades, balls at 
the different royal residences and at the amliassadors’ fob 


I 


i THE ARISTOCRATIC WORLD. 13 

; lowed each other in rapid succession, and wherever he 

I appeared, the 4iandsome Russian’ occupied the attention 
of the feminine half of society. The ladies, who would 
feel insulted if they were to be named in the same breath 
with a ballet-dancer, or a lorette, are nevertheless possessed 
with a mania to take their lovers away from these despised 
creatures — to win the handsome Mansurow away from the 
Mariotti all sail was set, on all sides.” 

“ Ah ! pure philanthropy ! you think too hardly of the 
ladies,” observed the Marcpiis. “ To save a soul, the}^ will 
sell themselves to the de\dl ! That is noble and grand in 
them, surely.” 

“It was like a vertigo that had seized them all,” 
Anninkoff continued. “All the coquetry was directed 
tow^ard one and the same object, he reigned supreme, and 
he seemed accustomed to it; Natalie alone treated him 
with cool indifference, and to this he was not accustomed. 
Even had she been less beautiful, her proud reserve would 
have been a challenge to him — as it was, it both charmed 
and piqued him, and it became a matter of honor and a 
pleasure, to compel this cold beauty to acknowledge his 
supremacy. His time was limited, he could not hope to 
effect a gradual conquest. What he wished to accomplish, 
he must accomplish quickly. He had the great advantage 
over his fair antagonist of having known her sex and its 
weaknesses for many 3’ears and through the most varied 
experiences, while Natalie did not even know her own self 
3'et, and he judged correctly when he said to himself that 
she could be more easily taken b}' surprise than convinced, 
.and that he must humble himself if he wished to conquer. 
He found no lack of opportunities to see her, either in the 
house or in society, for since the death of the Countess she 
had done the honors of the establishment in her place, and 
as Natalie was so independent and self-confident, it had 


14 


THE ARISTOCRATIC WORLD. 


not been considered necessary to provide her with a com- 
panion or chaperon. Only her old nurse lived with her, 
and this faithful creature did not forsake her mistress as 
long as she lived. 

“Mansurow had been in Stockholm about a week, 
when one afternoon he called upon Natalie. He knew that 
Count Verefkin was attending a diplomatic conference 
away from home, and, as he desired, he found Natalie 
alone. He had come for the express purpose of accom- 
plishing her subjection. He began the conversation in 
his vivacious and witty manner, carefull}’^ watching for the 
moment when it would be possible for him to catch Natalie 
in an incautious remark, and thus, in some way, obtain an 
advantage over her. Nevertheless — this he confessed to 
her afterward, at a favorable moment shortl3" after their 
engagement — her tranquil securit}" awed him. However, 
he was a man to become master of these impressions, and 
with prompt action, so as not to be obliged to admit to 
himself that he felt embarrassed, he asked suddenl}^ ; ‘ Tell 
me, Natalie, in what have I offended 3’ou, or who has 
prejudiced you so much against me, that you do not treat 
your father’s guest with greater kindness? ’ 

“ He expected to embarrass her hy this reproach, but 
he knew not what a coveted triumph he thus accorded her. 
So she had after all proved to him that he was not irre- 
sistible, that she did not belong to the crowd of women 
who came forth to meet him, to whom he was dangerous, 
and, supported and strengthened b}^ the satisfaction which 
she felt, she replied with composure : ‘I regret if I have 
failed in the duties of hospitality, and shall be obliged to 
ask my father’s pardon for having done so. Ask what 3^ou 
wish, Sergius Feodorovitch, you are the Czar’s messenger, 
and in his house you have only to command. ’ 

“ One must have known her to realize how beautifully 


THE ARISTOCRATIC WORLD. 


15 


; pride became her, and to be able to comprehend the im- 
! pression which she produced upon Mansurow at this 
i moment. He arose to leave her, she looked up at him, 
and as their eyes met, they remained fixed upon each 
other. All these days they had been occupied with the 
thought of each other, without acknowledging it to them- 
selves ; they had sought one another in order to avoid one 
another ; each had avoided the other, only to think more 
actively of the one shunned. They supposed they were 
trifling, and the}' had come close together, they knew not 
how. The Count’s design had been a contest, a victory, 
Natalie’s, the humiliation of her opponent and a personal 
gratification. Her intention had been to say something 
severe to him, to cast a reproving glance upon him, and 
she had not angered nor offended him, for he was lying at 
her feet, he was clasping her in his arms, and asking ; 

‘ Why do 3"0u compel me, Natalie, to accuse you to your- 
self? Why do you do violence to 3'our feelings to conceal 
from me that you love me, and not to see that I love 
you!’” 

“Excellent!” exclaimed the Marquis. “A stroke of 
genius ! A dramatic effect such as could not be improved 
upon I ” 

Anninkoff shook his head in the negative. “No I ” he 
returned, “I have no cause to think well of the Count, but 
at that moment, and in the months which followed, he 
believed what he was saying, he acted according to the 
convictions of his heart. Natalie, however, judged like 
yourself, for she arose, freed herself from the Count’s 
arms, and asked in a cold and injured tone: ‘To how 
many women have you already said this same thing, and 
how many have believed it? Allow me to observe that I 
do not belong to this list, and that it is I now, who have to 
remind you that you are my father’s guest.’ 


16 


THE ARISTOCRATIC WORLD. 


“He had withdrawn a few steps, she was leaving the 
room, he looked after her in silence. Not until she had 
reached the door, did he cry : ‘ Natalie, you wrong me ! ’ 

“The tone of his voice affected her, her indignation 
wounded her own self, for Sergius Feodorovitch was not 
mistaken, she did feel strongly attracted toward him. She 
stood still, he went to her and led her to a chair, seating 
himself beside her. ‘ Grrant me your attention for a few 
moments,’ he entreated, ‘and if you then still believe that 
I think of you as of other women, then, Natalie, I will not 
be your father’s guest an hour longer, and I will never 
look upon your face again.’ He pressed his lips to her 
hand, and she did not repulse him, for his inward agitation 
was unmistakable. 

“ ‘ You are right, perfectly right,’ he said after a short 
silence. ‘ I have told many women that I loved them, I 
was glad that they believed it, but now, at this moment, 
while I am talking with you, I am in despair for this very 
reason. All the recollections of my past, upon which I 
have looked back with pleasure, have become a torture to 
me since I have been in your house, since I saw you for 
the first time. Like a boy I have been satisfied with idle 
pastimes, which could not satisfy me long, because I am a 
man. Women have been a toy to me up to this day, and 
I haA^e never yet known one to whom I thought of being 
devoted for all time, or would have wished to call my own, 
never to separate from her. I never once thought of mar- 
riage until I saw you, and I have thought of marriage 
alone since I liaA^e been near you.’ 

“Natalie, however much she wished at heart to be 
able to believe him, could not explain to herself such a 
sudden transfonnation, and expressed this to him. ‘ My 
sentiments are still new to myself,’ said the Count, ‘and I 
should mistrust them and myself, if you were not the one 


J 


THE ARISTOCRATIC WORLD. 17 

who had wrought this change within me. I have never 
reflected upon what I was doing, I obe3"ed the wish and 
impulse of the moment. Now this is all changed. I think 
of 3^011, whatever I undertake to do. I suddenly find, 
Natalie, that 3'ou are dwelling in me, as m3^ conscience. 
IVhen I am here in 3'our home, beside 3’ou, I am moved 
113' your love for 3'our father, 3’our kindness to Anninkolf. 
I rejoice when I see 3^011 obe3dng 3’our father, and rejoice 
1 1 when you give commands. I do not like to think that in 
- ^ a few da3's 1 shall be no longer near 3mu, and 3^et 3'ou 
allowed me to feel, keenly enough, that I do not belong 
here, and that I am only a stranger in this house. In 
f short, never 3"et, with the exception of the 3’ears when, as a 
. bo3^, I lived with m3^ mother, have I ever experienced in 
I an3^ woman’s societ3’^ the silent, still, unceasing satisfaction 
t and delight which I enjo3’' when 1 am with 3^011, and never, 
f not even for m3^ mother, have I ever so longed for an3’ 
J woman as for 3mu, when I have been awa3" from 3"ou even 
for onl3' a few hours. Is not this love? ’ he asked, taking 
her hand again. 

“As she still kept her e3'es cast down, gi'ave and 
silent, he became more ardent, more vehement. He de- 
manded to know what she had been told about him. He 
conceded that he had been frivolous, that up to this hour 
he had not been worth3' of her, but he assured her that he 
would deserve her, he entreated her to grant him her hand, 
her love, to raise him to her level ; a second time he knelt 
before her. . . . ” 

“ And she raised him ! ” remarked the Marquis in his 
sarcastic wa3", “for no woman can resist the role of rescu- 
ing angel ; 3^et, it is strange, that the fair sex does not 
learn wisdom b3" others’ experience — no matter how man3" 
thousand birds have alread3" been caught in the net of 
masculine self-accusation, new swarms of women are for- 


18 


THE ARISTOCRATIC WORLD. 


ever finding their way into the old snares. Poor, short- 
sighted creatures ! And of course the engagement followed 
on the heels of these confessions.” 

“Of course ! ” Anninkofif replied. “ Sergius Feodoro- 
vitch sent a courier to St. Petersburg to request an exten- 
sion of his leave of absence, and, chief in importance, the 
Czar’s consent to his engagement. Both requests were 
granted. Natalie was at once placed on the list of the 
Czarina’s future ladies in waiting, to whom the Czar 
always presents a wedding portion, and, if they are 
married in St. Petersburg, he conducts them himself to the 
altar, as a special honor. He doubled the usual dowiy for 
this new bride, appointed the wedding da}^ for the time 
when the adjutant’s leave of absence was to expire, and 
proposed that the ceremony should be performed in St. 
Petersburg, so that the bride should not lack the imperial 
escort. 

“ Sergius Feodorovitch owned and occupied the hand- 
some mansion in St. Petersburg which he had inherited 
from his mother. It required only a short time to arrange 
it for the reception of a new mistress, and the few weeks 
which the engaged couple spent in Stockholm, passed for 
them in an uninterrupted ecstasy of bliss. Natalie seemed 
transformed, her confidence in her betrothed knew no lim- 
its, she saw and thought of nothing but him, and thus it 
entirely escaped her notice that her father did not share 
her content, that he looked forward apprehensively to the 
future in which his daughter anticipated the perpetuation 
and, if such a thing were possible, an increase of her 
present happiness. Letters which Count Yerefkin receded 
from intimate friends in St. Petersburg, mentioned doubt- 
fully that, of late, Sergius Feodorovitch’s passion for 
gambling had been developing in a continually increasing 
degree; the anxious father did not withhold this from 


THE AillSTOORATlC WORLD. 


10 


Natalie, however she was aii^’thiiig hut surprised at it. 
Sergius had told her all this himself, he had named the 
amounts which he had gaml)led away, she had been ini- 
tiated by him into the secrets of his past far more than 
was necessary, and while he could never sufficiently extol 
the intelligence, the insight, the freedom from prejudice 
and the magnanimity of his betrothed, she was herself 
equally content, and perfectly convinced that Sergius, hy 
these confessions, had broken off his follies forever, and 
that he would keep the promises which he had made her, 
steadfastly and sacredly. 

“ I need not tell you that the father did not share this 
opinion, but he had no choice. To refuse his consent to a 
marriage, or even to break off* an engagement, to which 
Nicholas Paulovitch had given his imperial sanction, was 
impossible, and even if the Count had not had this impos- 
sibilit}^ before him, Natalie’s passion and energy would 
have pro^'ed equal olijections. 

‘‘To me, even at that time, Sergius Feodorovitch 
seemed contemptible. He was an egotist, without any 
reverence for purit3L He loved Natalie as deeplj" as he 
was able to lo^'e, that is, as one loves a mistress. His onl}' 
aim was his own happiness, not the happiness and peace 
of his future wife. His confessions, no matter how care- 
full}" he ma}" have framed them, were a degradation, a 
demoralization, to Natalie, and the forgiveness which she 
granted him out of the abundance of her love, dragged her 
down completely from the heights of strict morality ; for 
there is an indulgence for others with which we come 
too near our own selves, and a tolerance which we onl}^ 
practise at the expense of our own consciousness of 
what is right. 

“The morning the engaged couple were to leave 


20 


THE ARISTOCRATIC WORLD. 


Stockliolin with Count Yerefkin, I met Natalie alone. 
Since she had been in love herself, she had become more 
gentle, less reserved, in eveiy particular. As I entered 
the room — she was packing a small case and some books 
in her traveling bag — she laid these aside, and came to 
meet me, saying : ^ I am A^ery glad, J osef PetroAutch, to 

Ije able to speak to you once more alone. You haA^e been 
as kind as a brother to me, and helped us through that 
time when death dealt us wound after AV'ound, Avith a dcA'O- 
tion we can ncA^er forget. Continue to be m3" lirother and 
m3" friend, and a son to m3" father, and do not stand aloof 
from the man who is the happiness of 1113" life, and Avho 
would be proud to call 3 011 his friend also.”' 

The Baron paused and said then with a smile that 
flitted transientl3" across his melanehol3" features: “You 
must acknowledge that it is not pleasant to hear friend- 
ship spoken of, when one’s loA^e is unrequited and un- 
heeded, and still less pleasant to be obliged to accept as 
3"our friend the man to Avhom 3011 begrudge his happiness 
from the depths of your heart ; 3"et CA-en in the so-called 
free AAmiid of the heart and the intellect, there has arisen 
among us a conventional it3', an etiquette, Avith AABich we 
cannot, with propriet3", refuse to comph". It is impossible 
to say to a woman in such a case : ‘ M3" dear friend ! 

Your friendship is an insult to m3' Ioa'C, I oaa'c 3 011 no 
thanks for it therefore, and I would break the neck of 3"Our 
chosen one Avith pleasure, if aiy propitious occasion should 
present itself ! ’ There was nothing left for me to do but 
to la3' m3" hand on m3" heart and assure Natalie of m3' 
appreciation of her friendship and of m3" best AA'ishes for 
her prosperit3". But she must have expected more, for 
she pressed her delicate lips together, her brow became 
OA'ereast, and, turning awa3' from me, she replied : At is a 
pity that ! know A'our voice and 3"our face so well. You 


THK ARISTOCRATIC WORLO. 21 


do not like Sergius Feodorovitch, and 3 0U doubt the happi- 
ness whicli he lias in store for me.’ 

“ ‘ You have told the truth ! ’ I replied. 

“‘Then we have nothing further to sa}',’ she returned. 
‘Farewell, and mav you be happy, Josef Petrovitch, 
Farewell ! ’ 

“ Her agitation was greater than she wished to reA'eal, 
but I could not let her go from me in this wa}'. I detained 
her, and when I saw her tears flowing, I kissed her e^^es, 
and said : ‘ Go, Natalie ! and when some da}' these loveh' 

e3'es shed the tears which Sergius Feodorovitch’s frivolit}' 
will surely draw from them, then remember that I loved 
}'Ou, that I am 3'our friend, and that you have onl}' to call 
me, and I will come. . . . ’ ” 

The Baron had risen with these words, and was walk- 
ing up and down the room. His cigar had gone out long 
before, nor had the Marquis lighted a second. It probabl}' 
had not happened to Anninkoff for years, that he had 
spoken to another human lieing of the hopes and disap- 
pointments of his heart, or lived his vouth over again in 
another’s presence. A long life in the world, in the cold 
forms of social intercourse, in the reserve and distrust of 
others which are called necessaiy discretion, had left him 
lonel}' at heart and made him diffident, with all his liril- 
liancy and ease in society. He was ashamed of his feel- 
ings and 3'et found a satisfaction in expressing them. He 
ridiculed himself, because he was afraid of arousing the 
ridicule of his old friend, the Marquis. But as Anninkoff' 
was touched 1)}' the contemplation of his own noble, im- 
pressionable heart, the Marquis too was soon no longer 
able to smile and be sarcastic, for it came home to him 
also, how beautiful is the fliith of youth, and how sulflime 
it is to suffer Irom reverence and loA'e. This could not 
happen to either one of them now, but both of them, in 


22 


THE ARISTOCRATIC WORLD. 


spite of their confidence in themselves, would certainh' 
haA'e giA^en much to be able AAfith iieAV disappointments and 
pangs to buy back again the daj'S of their 3’oiith, 

‘‘Here A"oii liaA’^e the romance of m3" life,” the Baron 
continued after some time. hopes had come to an 

end, m3" role of lover Avas played out. I assumed now the 
role of a confidential friend, and had 01113" to appear once 
more, in the last act, in the conclnding catastrophe. 

“The newly Avedded pair Avere receiA^ed at court in the 
most cordial wa3". It happened, or it had been arranged, 
that the Mariotti had been given her Amcation earlier than 
usual, Natalie found an uncontested field. She could hold 
her own and bid defiance to the curiosit3" and ill Avill with 
which the ladies receded her. Her beautv was A-ictorious, 
her reputation blameless, her intentions the best, and her 
loA"e Avas strong and confident. She pleased the Czar who 
congratulated his adjutant upon his choice. He Awas more 
gracious than CA'cr toAvard him ; the da3" before the wed- 
ding he had a long interA"iew Avith him, and those persons 
who saAv Sergius FeodoroA-itch come forth from the Czar’s 
priA"ate room at that time, asserted that he had been A"isi- 
bl3" affected. The next morning the Avedding ceremoin" 
took place, and Natalie Avas led to the altar hy the Czar 
himself When the bride and groom had receWed the 
benediction and the young Avife A\’as expressing her grati- 
tude to the Czar, he said: ‘Bear this in mind, Natalie! 
He has promised to make you happv and to be a good hus- 
band to 3'ou. Applv to me if he does not fulfill this ! I)o 
3"0u hear, appl3" to me ! ’ 

“The3" Avere both startled, Natalie and Mansurow. 
But the Czar, hoAvever earnest he had been in his Avarning, 
made light of it. ‘AYell, it Avas only a bit of good advice.’ 
he said, extending his hand to Mansurow. He emliraced 
the bride, spoke graciously Avith Yerefkin, and surrounded 


TIIR ARISTOCRATIC WORLD. 


2H 

by a multitude of congratulating friends, who envied the 
newly-wedded pair the Czar’s kindness and favor, the}’ 
both left the church with a doubt in their soul, with a 
secret uneasiness. Natalie questioned within herself : ‘To 
what can the Czar’s warning refer? ’ Mansurow was think- 
ing ; ‘ Can my father-in-law have been the cause of this 

menace, and is he to blame for the severe admonitions to 
which the Czar treated me yesterday? Can it be that 
Natalie has any doubts of me, and that the Czar knows of 
them?’* 

“However, Natalie was beautiful, she loved her young 
husband, Sergius Feodorovitch was passionate and tender, 
the Mariotti had been spirited away, the ladies knew that 
the Czar had taken Natalie’s conjugal happiness under his 
especial protection, and every one knew that Nicholas 
Paulovitch would not take a joke, where he had expressed 
his W’ill. In short, the honey-moon and the first year and 
a half passed most happily for the newly-wedded pair. 
Mansurow enjoyed the imperial favor in constantly increas- 
ing measure, Natalie esteemed herself fortunate in having 
won her husband to the pleasures of domesticity and mak 
rimony, and only forgot one thing in so doing — that their 
home was one of the most brilliant in St. Petersburg, and 
that the house w’as never free from guests, so that it was, 
literally, an open house. She had sufficient wit and grace 
to do the honors in a way that w’on her universal homage ; 
she saw that her husband w’as flattered by the admiration 
which she excited, and she, who as a girl had lived so self- 
contained and reserved, now wished and strove to please 
others, simply from love for Mansurow. 

“ In the midst of these pleasant circumstances it be- 
came my sad duty to send the young wife the intelligence 
of her father’s sudden death. 

“With the love which she had cherished for him, the 


24 


THE AlUSTOCUATlO AVORLD. 


loss was doubly great, her mourning deep and sincere. 
The receptions in the MansuroAV mansion -suddenly ceased, 
and Natalie, who a few years before had passed through a 
similar period of mourning with her father, in increased 
love and a more exalted frame of mind, noAV had an oppor- 
tunity to compare her condition at that time with her 
present one. 

“ She told herself that she could not expect the same 
sorrow on the part of her husband, Avhich she VN^as expe- 
riencing, but she was surprised that her mourning did not 
make a deeper impression upon him, that her grief and the 
silence in the house affected him unpleasantly wdthin even 
a few days, and that solitude had no charms for him. It 
was to her a refreshment, an enjoyment, as she gained b}^ 
it leisure to think of herself and to return to her former 
occupations. She loved reading, she loved poetr}', she 
loved art, and the remembrance of the united life w^hich 
she had led with her father, after the death of her mother 
and brothers, now made the occupations and studies which 
she had shared with him, dearer and more inspiring than 
ever. It seemed like living with her father when she 
buried herself in the works of the great poets and thinkers. 
Sergius Feodorovitch was also familiar Avith literature, 
however, like a vain man, he was fond of it onh' on account 
of the advantages which he could derive from it, and the 
effect Avhich he could produce by it on others. His entire 
intellectual and material possessions were, in his eyes, 
only means to enhance his \mlue in the estimation of 
others, and although he knew how to discourse and pass 
judgment upon the Sublime and the ^Beautiful very brib 
liantl}-, yet he felt little inclination to dcA'ote himself 
to them in solitude. After a few attempts to diA^ert Natalie, 
which did not have at once the desired result, he said to 
himself that he ought not to compel her to a gayety which 


THE ARISTOCRATIC WORLD. 


25 


was not natural to her at present, and that he must resign 
her to her grief, until it became milder, and she had again 
become capable of resuming the manner of life which alone 
suited him, in lively societ}'. 

“Natalie could not be offended with him for this, she 
ma}^ even have been grateful, ])ut the rapidity with which 
he had formed this decision, the impatience with wdiich he 
left the mourning daughter, the radiant ga3^ety which he 
l)rought homewdth him from social gatherings, the manner 
in wdiich, occupied exclusive!}' wdth himself, he hardly in- 
quired how' she had passed her days and evenings, all this 
wounded her. 

“ She did not belong to that class of women w'ho can 
retaliate for neglect hy ill humor, or coldness. When she 
suiTcndered herself in love to Sergius Feodorovitch, and 
only grand, noble women are capable of such surrender, 
she had made him sovereign of her destiny. She saw with 
bitter grief that he could easily do without her, that she 
was not able to afford him any substitute for the excite- 
ment and applause of society, and said to herself: ‘It 
must lie that I have not as yet shown him sulhciently the 
fullness of my love. I have been acting selfishly, in being 
so absorbed in a sorrow, which it w^ould be impossible 
for him to experience equally with me. I have no right to 
deny him pleasure because I cannot share it with him at 
present, and I must try to make his home attractive to 
him once more, even if it does require some sacrifice on 
my part to see strangers and talk on indifferent subjects 
with persons to wiiom I am indifferent.’” 

“How pathetic w^omen are,” remarked the Marquis, 
wiio had listened to his friend with constantly increasing 
sympathy, “how pathetic they are when they know how to 
lo’S'e truly, and how often it happens that in return for this 
devoted love, the one upon whom it is lavished usually 


20 


THE ARISTOCRATIC WORLD. 


sees iind appreciates it less than the stranger who observes 
it as a spectator. I have never been attracted more irre- 
sistibly into friendship, into love, than by the woman who 
is herself unselfishly endeavoring to win back the love and 
tenderness of an nngratefnl husband. The sentiment of 
justice, s^nnpathy with the weak, anger at the haughtiness 
of the stronger man, all our l)est qualities are awakened 
within ns in such a case, and they become our seducers. 
For while we are admiring the faithful love of such a 
woman, we are usually making eveiy efifort to win it for 
ourselves, and even while we are worshiping her virtue, we 
are often guiding her steps along tlie path on which she 
will fall from her heights until she finally sinks into our 
outstretched arms. ’ ’ 

“You speak,” continued Anninkoff, “as if 3*011 had 
been a witness of the events which I have now to relate. 
Among the gentlemen with whom the Count had the most 
familiar intercourse, there was a Roumanian. He was 
almost twenty 3*ears older than Mansurow, a man fort3*-six 
3*ears of age ; he had resided a long while in France and 
had tried to awaken interest there in the cause of his 
people against the Turks. Not having at that time 
achieved an}* substantial results, he went to St. Petersburg, 
where he was well received at court, as also in societ}*. 
His maul}* but gloom}" appearance, his princely title, his 
wealth, all were an advantage to him. Although he was 
not invested with any official dignity, yet he was classed 
with the diplomates ; his ac(piirements, his cleverness and, 
above all, his eloquence, were highly appreciated ; the lat- 
ter only made itself apparent on special occasions, for he 
w"as usually inclined to silence in ordinary society, but for 
this very reason, his occasional eloquence possessed a still 
greater effect, and there was in fact, something irresistibly 
fascinating about it. 


THE ARISTOCRATIC AVORLD. 27 

“ It was onl}" natural that this man, who never lost 
sight of his plans, should seek the acquaintance of the 
Czar’s hivorite, immediately after his arrival, and, as 
Sergius FeodoroAutch liked to hear himself talk, the sober, 
unwearied listener, who was at the same time a man of the 
world, and when he had once laid aside his gravity and 
measured bearing, in the circle of his intimate gentleman 
friends, would not hesitate at an}' extravagance nor enter- 
tain a scruple on any point whatever, soon became his 
cherished, indeed, his favorite companion. The Prince 
had no establishment in St. Petersburg and this w'as an 
occasion for Sergius Feodorovitch to show him the most 
extensive hospitality. Natalie too soon learned to like the 
Prince. His age, his reticence, his refined and quiet man- 
ners inspired her with confidence. In the first feAV days 
which folloAved the death of her father. Prince Titus was, 
therefore, the only outsider whose presence was Avelcome 
to her. She discussed with him and her husband what 
was to be done in regard to her inheritance from her 
father, and as, just at this time, Sergius had to accompany 
the Czar to a grand parade which w'as then taking place in 
the NoA'gorod district, it was through the Prince that I 
receiA'ed the first business instructions which I needed in 
regard to the ambassador’s estate. 

“The Verefkins had never possessed any property of 
consequence, and the deceased Count and his sons had 
accommodated themselves to this fact, but they had been 
obliged to live conformably to the position which the father 
had held. The family had a great taste for art, and 
during their travels, many articles of artistic value had 
been offered them on favorable terms, which they had not 
been Avilling to refuse, and now these works of art and a 
small estate in the south, the original home of the Yeref- 
kins, constituted Natalie’s entire inheritance. Sergius 


28 


THE ARISTOCRATIC WORLD. 


Feodorovitch wished to sell the estate. Natalie wanted toi 
keep it, because her father and she herself, had been born 
there. Her nurse, whose home it had also been, enconr-! 
aged her in this idea, and preferred the request that- 
Natalie would give the management of the estate to AVasil,; 
the nurse's son, who had grown up from childhood in the 
Yerefkin house, had enjo3’ed a good education, and had 
occupied for 3’ears the position of private secretarv to the 
deceased Count. As the latter had died suddenh', he had 
not expressed his wishes in regard to aii}^ point. AVasil as 
well as his mother belonged now to Natalie, and, as he 
was parti}' her foster-brother and had been her own pla}'- 
mate and the playmate of her brothers, she was interested 
in providing for the son of her faithful servant in such a 
way as to satisfy him and benefit herself at the same time. 
The estate however lay at a great distance from the main 
highwa}' ; in order to make it productive considerable 
amounts of money would have to be expended upon it, 
and I mj'self endorsed the opinion of IMansurow and the 
Prince, that the properfy had far better be sold. But in 
order to relieve Natalie’s mind in reference to Wasil’s 
future, we advised her to give him his freedom, and Man- 
surow himself made the proposal to take him into his 
service and into his house as a kind of intendant. Natalie 
agreed to this, the nurse’s delight was unbounded, and 
thus it became Wasil’s first task in his new position to 
transport the Yerefkin works of art to the JMansurow 
mansion.” 


* 


* 


* 


“It was six or eight weeks after the death of the aged 
Count when lYasil arrived in St. Petersburg. To see the 
Countess in mourning, to fall at her feet and to bathe her 


THE ARISTOCRATIC WORLD. 


29 


lumds with his tears, was for him the work of a moment. 
Natalie who now met for the first time a feeling which cor- 
responded with her own grief for her father’s loss, was 
intensel}" atfected. Wasil had seen her father die, he had 
to tell her about her father’s last moments, he alone shared 
the remembrance with her of her own and her brothers’ 
childhood, he knew the history of each work of art he had 
; brought with him, the place it had occupied in her father's 
I house, the value which her father had set upon it, and the 
freed serf, the servant in her home, became by these means 
like a relative to her, like a member of her own family, 
whose presence comforted her, and whose conversation be- 
came an alleviation of and a release from her sorrow. 

“ The Yeref kin servants had alway s been 'well treated, 
j and Natalie had alwa3’S had an especial regard and friend- 
. ship for the son of her foster-mother, but our serfs are 
I keen observers of their masters, and Wasil in particular 
was familiar with ever}" tone, eveiy look of the 3"Oung 
Countess to whom he had looked up from his earliest 
childhood as to a superior being. His capability, his en- 
tire training, his ambition to distinguish himself, his pas- 
sionate attachment to the fiimity, had all been, without her 
knowing it, Natalie’s work, and in his reverential worship 
of his Mistress, he 'v\"ould have valued the gift of free- 
dom but liglitl}", if it had removed him from her presence. 
He was rendered happ}" by the kindness with which the 
Countess received him, but there was something in this 
kindness, a certain gentleness and depression, that he 
(*oidd not ascribe solety to her mourning for her father, 
and it troubled him. The idea that his beloved Mistress 
was not happ3" forced itself upon him, j-et he cast it aside 
as incredible. The Count must love Natalie of course, and 
what could she want more if she were loved? In the best 
firith he entered the new service^ even in his freedom more 


30 


THE ARISTOCRATIC WORLD. 


devoted than ever before to his Mistress, as he still alwa 3 ’s 
called her. ^ 

“ However, as I told 3 "OU, he knew how to see and to 
hear, and even if he had not been able to do this, his mother . 
would have enlightened him in regard to the fact that 
everything in the house was not going as it should. 

“‘Natascha’s eyes have grown sad,’ she said one da}’ 
to her son, calling the Countess by the pet name which she j 
had given her as a child. | 

‘“Why should they not, mother dear, after the loss I 
she has sustained? ’ the son replied, not forgetting, even in j 
his mother’s presence, the reserve which he owed, his j 
Mistress. 1 

“The mother shook her head. ‘Her eyes have not / 
become weary from weeping, l)ut from seeing. She sees 
what she ought not to see, and notices what I have known j 
for a long while. ’ j 

“ ‘ And what is that? ’ 

“‘Sergius Feodorovitch has a restless brain, a fickle 
heart and unbridled impulses. Our dear father, Nicholas j 
Paulovitch, and may God keep him, commanded him: ^ 
‘Sergius Feodorovitch, you must make Natascha happy !’ 
and just because he was ordered to do so, he does it no 
longer. I know Natascha ! Before — not a day passed ■ 
that she did not say : ‘How good the Count is,’. or: ‘If ] 
you only knew, little mother, how he loves me,’ or: ^ 
‘Mascha, am I not very fortunate? ’ 

“ ‘Hoes she not say this any more? ’ the son inquired. 
“‘She does not say anything at all, and has not for ,• 
weeks and weeks. In the morning she puts on her mourn- 
ing clothes, hardly saying a single word to her maid or to 
me, and in the evening, after she has waited a long, long 
while for the Master, she retires to rest, and again she does 
not speak to me, and yet in the evening I am there expressly 


TllK ARISTOCRATIC WORLD. 


31 


to undress her, for I have never let an^' one take this privi- 
lege away from me. It is often broad daylight when the 
jM aster comes home, and then he is wild and gloom}' some- 
times, so that everybody gets out of his way. The valet 
says . . . . ’ 

What does he say? ’ 

“ ‘ The ATilet says that when his Master comes home 
from Lady Miravjief’s, he is cheerful and kind, but when 
he comes from Count Armanow’s or from the French 
Baroness’s, he is horrid. He says that they gamble there, 
and occasionally, since Natalie has been in mourning, they 
have played up stairs in the Master’s rooms for hours at a 
time. The Prince is then always the most excited, and 
they say the Prince has such luck, better luck than any 
one else.’ 

“ Wasil listened to this quietly, he already knew more 
in regard to these circumstances than his mother, for it 
was no longer a secret that the Count had begun to live in 
his old way again. His flirtation with Lady Miravjief did 
not amount to anything, and was only a pastime for each 
of them ; but just on account of this slight love affair with 
Madame Miravjief, the Count was not disjileased to see 
that Prince Titus was paying his court to the Countess, and 
he cndeaA^ored, although in vain, to make her comprehend 
and accept the theory of mutual indulgence, which a mar- 
ried couple can grant each other, must grant each other, in 
order not to feel hampered by their lack of liberty. 

“Natalie had by this time lived long enough in St. 
Peterslmrg society and with her husband, to comprehend 
the significance of his demand for her tolerance and of the 
liberty which he desired, and that his trifling with Lady 
Miravjief could not be the incentive to these suggestions. 
Neither did she need to guess nor observe long to learn 
that the Count had made the acquaintance of one of those 


32 


THE ARISTOCRATIC AVORLD. 


shipwrecked Paris lieaiities, of whom a certain number are 
cast upon the shore of onr liome societ}' eveiy 3’ear, Avhere 
the}" succeed often enough in phiying an important role for 
awhile, and occasional!}" eA"en draAV a fine prize. Madame 
d’ Herbois. ...” 

“Oh !” exclaimed the Marquis, “]Madame d’ Herbois ! 
So she turned up in St. Petersburg !” 

“Do you know Madame d’ Herbois?” Anninkoff in- 
quired as he noticed the Marquis’ smile. 

“ 1 was acquainted with her at the time w hen the ship- 
wreck occurred to w"hich you referred, Avithout, how^ever, 
being numbered among her friends. She w"as a girl from 
a good family, married to an honorable gentleman, but. 
unfortunately, the style of her beauty required much 
adornment. She wanted im^re diamonds, more crystal 
chandeliers in her apartments, than the honest d’ Herbois 
was w"illing to pay for. Clarisse saw no harm in allowing 
her husband’s friends to supply her AA"ith that Avhich he 
imagined he AA-as obliged to deny her, and so, passing 
from friend to friend, she came at last, as you haA"e just 
told me, to St. Petersliurg and Mansarow".” 

“She had brought with her some good recommenda- 
tions, and also some substantial letters of credit,” Annin- 
kolf continued. “ She A\"as therefore recei\"ed into society, 
but the ladies discoA^ered presently a certain indefinable 
something about her Avhich made them suspicious. Madame 
d’ Herbois’ inA"itations and adA"ances soon met w"ith cold- 
ness and neglect from them ; in a short time she AA"as seen 
no more at other ladies’ houses, but instead, receiA"ed and 
attracted to her draAving-rooms the most brilliant gentle- 
men’s society in St. Petersburg. Prince Titus Avas an old 
acquaintance of hers, his endorsement had been of great 
service to her, and he did not cease to visit her, although 


j 


THE ARISTOCRATIC WORLD. 33 

he did not belong to the list of her admirers nor even to 
that of her daily guests. 

“ Mansnrow had been presented to Madame d’ Her- 
bois b}’ the Prince, and the latter withdrew more and 
more from her societ}', the more eagerly it was sought by 
the former. 

“At first the fair Parisienne had drawn a so-called 
intellectual circle around her, but in a city where there are 
no politics to discuss, one soon becomes weary of being 
intellectual eveiy day, and for weary brains a little game 
of cards is at times a refreshing excitement, ^ladame 
(f Ilerbois liked to play, she pla3^ed with elegance and great 
calmness. It Avas seen that the game was only of impor- 
tance to her as a game, that she ceased to pla}’ as soon as 
luck turned against her, that she ceased as well when she 
had won a moderate amount, as if it grieved her to be hav- 
ing the adAmntage at the expense of her guests. She Avas 
therefore thought to be harmlessness itself, and no one 
stopped to consider that the dail}' receipt of a few hundred 
francs was after all quite a handsome 3’earl>' income. Be- 
sides’ this, she prcA^ented no one from trying his own luck, 
and while she preserA^ed her reputation of amiable hospi- 
tality and utter disinterestedness, she consented that an 
acquaintance of hers, Lord Elmore, Avho had arrived in St. 
Petersburg shortly after her, should at last formall}' open 
a bank in her drawing-room, so that sums of mone}' be^’ond 
all reason Avere won and lost in her house. 

“ The police were soon aAvare that gambling was car- 
ried on at Madame d’ Herbois’, but the superintendent of 
liolice and maity other men of rank belonged to her set. 
juid as ^lansiiroAV was soon looked upon as the admirer, 
and indeed the actual lover of the French lad^^, this con- 
tributed to ensure her security. A long time passed away, 
Natalie, contrarA' to her oavii inclinations, had shortened 


34 


THE ARISTOCRATIC WORLD. 


the period of mourning’ for her father as much as was 
practicable, she had begun to keep open house again, she 
dressed exquisitely, she became more sought after than 
eA^er, she was brilliant in societ}", full of eagerness to please 
her husband, ingenious in her efforts to captivate him — but 
she had no longer only a casual rival to contend against, 
she had opposed to her longing for her husband’s loA^e, his 
passion for gambling which had aAvakened stronger than 
eA'er before. And what are the mild delights of conjugal 
tenderness compared with this demoniac power ! 

“ Those heart wounds, those short-liA^ed hopes, those bit- 
ter disappointments and weaiy discouragements, to Avhich 
succeed new deceptive hopes and new energetic struggles 
— Natalie had to liA^e through the whole misery of neglected 
loA’e. No one heard a single complaint from her lips. 
She had insisted upon becoming the Count’s Avife against 
her father’s advice, against her knowledge of his character, 
and she consequently had to bear the fate which she had 
A^oluntarily assumed. The cold reserve, which in the sun- 
shine of love liad disappeared from her nature at one time, 
noAV settled doAvn again upon her features, and onl}' 
strangers continued to see a smile or tlie expression of 
happiness and content in her eyes. 

“ As you veiy justly remarked not long ago, a beauti- 
ful Avife, neglected 1)}' her husband, is never at a loss for 
friends, Avho make it their task to console the neglected 
one and to enable her to take rcA^enge upon her faithless 
husl)and. Natalie might be as silent and self-contained as 
she Avould, the society' Avhich surrounded her knew Avhat 
was passing in her life. But no one, not even the Prince, 
could l)oast of having seen the Countess in a bad humor, 
or of having drawn a word of displeasure from her in 
regard to her husband’s altered life ; and yet Prince Titus 
was her daily companion, and therefore, the only one who 


THE ARISTOCRATIC WORLD. 


35 


Ijl^l 


was able to deserve that Natalie felt deeply her husband’s 
manner of life, that the disorder now recommencing and 
rapidly increasing in his pecuniary affairs, was not un- 
known to her, and that she was trying to find ways and 
means to repair it lo' her economy. 

“ In this Wasil aided her with all his energies, and he, 
he alone, upon whose silence she could depend, knew the 
whole extent of her sorrow, and the tears which anger and 
lo^'e often forced from her. The Countess had a strong 
constitution, but silent grief, long continued, is a sharp, 
gnawing poison. Her cheeks began to grow pale, her eyes 
lost tiieir former brilliancy, her health became delicate. 
She endeavored to conceal this, but people spoke of her 
nerves, her lungs, being affected. 

“One evening, as Sergius entered his wife's dressing- 
room, to escort her to a court ball, he was struck by her 
paleness, and he did not like to have people make inquiries 
of him about Natalie’s health and the change in her. 
‘That 3’ellow dress is not becoming to 3^011, Natalie, it makes 
3’ou look pale,’ he remarked. ‘You have lost your taste 
in dress. • Put on some rouge,’ he advised, drawing on and 
carefull3' buttoning his gloves meanwhile. 

“ At the moment the3' happened to lie alone. ‘ Put on 
some rouge? ’ she repeated after him, and, wounded b3' the 
cool indifference of his tone, she asked : ‘ Are you afraid 

that the Czar will ask me what it is that has made me 
grow pale, wh3' I have wept 1113' e3"es dull? You need not 
be uiieas3', I at least, know what I owe to our marriage 
vows and what I promised 3^ou.’ 

“ ‘ That is magnanimous of 3^011 ! ’ the Count exclaimed 
with a laugh. ‘You might make complaints to the Czar, 
3'ou could complain that I have not become blind and deaf 
to the world, that m3^ marriage did not transform me at 
once int6 an octogenarian, sated with life’s pleasures. You 


THE ARISTOCRATIC WORLD. 


31 ) 

would look well pla3dng the accuser ! it would hardl}" ])e 
becoming in Nicholas Paulovitch to recommend conjugal 
fidelit}" to me, to me in particular ! Depend upon it, I do 
not know how to love to order ! ’ 

“One word led to another, reproach follow^ed re- 
proach, and both were alarmed to see how far the}' had 
gone in a few seconds. Natalie first regained her self- 
control. The Count’s remark that he could not love to 
order produced its effect upon her, and, at that time, her 
nature was still one of those which are inclined to accuse 
themselves of the wrongs which are inflicted upon them b}' 
others. She suddenlv ceased and l^egged the Count’s par- 
don for her violence. He was touched, for he had realh* 
loved her once, but a djing fire does not warm nor do veiy 
much good, and the more activel\' the little flame flickers 
up, the more rapid!}' it dies out. 

“Sergius accused Natalie, half seriously, of being 
too romantic, saying that her German reading had made 
her too sentimental, that she ought to have married a jwet 
and not one of Nicholas Ihiulovitch’s adjutants, who had 
to keep his troojis on their feet and constantly on the 
march. ‘You must take things a little more easily, Na- 
tascha ! ’ he exclaimed, ‘ A little liberty for me and for 
you, and we shall live as happily together as every one 
around us. I am a human being like all the rest, and that 
you were not getting a saint for your husband, Natascha, 
seems to me was a fact of which you were well aware, and it 
was no crime in your eyes that others had found me agree- 
able before you did. Why do you now reproach me for 
the same thing? Why do you no longer take pleasure in 
having others admire what belongs to you ? ’ 

“Natalie listened to him, she wanted to convince her- 
self that she had been deceiving herself, that she really 
was Avrong — they became reconciled and — Natalie painted 


THK ARISTOCRATIC WORLD. 


37 


her cheeks that night for the first time. Other people 
(lid it.” 

“Other people !” repeated the Marquis.^ as he noticed 
the ])itterness in his friend’s tone, “that is jnst it! Ah, 
what saints we would be, what lives we could lead, if it 
were not for these conbmnded ‘other p(M)ple.’ For them 
we toil, for them we struggle and sutter. It is tliese ‘otlier 
people ’ that stir us up, urge us on and hurry us along. A 
single tempter, how impotent he would be by the side of 
virtue, if he did not liaA'e every) )ody else, the tempters and 
the tempted, for his allies, and if Ave did not learn to en- 
dure easily enough in bother people’ Avhat Avould seem 
unendural)le to us if VA^e were the only ones guilty of it.” 

“That is so,” Anninkolf replied. “And, the first step 
taken, Natalie soon found herself hurried along the path 
taken l)^' other people, a patli which led her constantly 
farther and farther awa}' from her true self. No one had 
eA^er before seen her so AUA^acious, so dazzling, as on the 
eA^ening Avheii she [ittempted for the first time to deceiA^e 
herself or to escape from herself. She discoAT^red to her 
astonishment that this Avas possible to her, that she could 
close her ears, dlA^ert herself and become oblivious for 
hours to that AAdiich made her heart bl(‘ed AAdieneAvr she 
thought of it. She came home tired out, and her fatigue 
sent her to sleep. What I)etter could she ask than not to 
spend the nights in Avakeful misery as heretofore. The next 
da}' the Prince told her of the admiration Avhich she had 
excited, the Count met her affectionately, he Avas in the 
best of hunmrs, the Czar himself had complimented him on 
Natalie’s radiant ga3'et3" and beaut}', she saAV that eveiy 
one Avas content Avith her, and said to herself : ‘If the 
semblance makes us happier than the real it}', then I must 
try to get along Avith the semblance ; perhaps I may there- 
1 )}' in time Avin back the companionship and loA'e of my 


3ft 


THE ARISTOCRATIC WORLH. 


husband, and, nieanwliile, 1 shall get over the torture of i 
my lonely hours.’ 1 

“The Czar, as you know, was always in motion, his | 
adjutants had therefore plenty to do. The position held # 
by Sergius Feodoroviteh made it necessary for him to be 1 
away from home a great deal, and there was hardly an 1 
hour in the day or the night in which he might not possi- 1 
bly be called upon for service or official arrangements. I 
Thus it was easy for him to make excuses for his freipient J 
departures, the hours spent away from home, and he con- H 
sented, indeed it seemed to give him })leasure, that Natalie 
should begin to go into society without him and to accept 
the Prince’s escort. The (V)unt gained more liberty in this 
way, Natalie managed to kill time, and when her inner 
consciousness reminded her that she was not happ}', that 
she was silently enduring and accepting in her conjugal 
relations what she would never have supposed possible for 
her to endure nor accept, she only hurried the more rapidly ■ 
in search of her only refuge, new diversions. : 

“l^eople could not fail to notice this and interpret it 
in their own way — Natalie Mansurow is adapting herself ! 
to circumstances, she has at last ceased to play the role of 
injured innocence. She has even found it an easy matter 
to console herself for the Count's neglect and frivolity, for 
the Prince is witty, charming, and full of solicitude for 
Natalie. He has even released the Count from his embar- 
rassments in order to save him from the Czar's displeasure, 
and spare Natalie the anxieties of her husband’s ruin ! He 
is a friend that will stand every test, and no one can blame 
the Countess if she appreciates this and rewards it ! 

“ But society had forgotten that the neighbors some- 
times discover the lire in a burning house sooner than those 
who dwell in it. Natalie was not yet aware of the fact 
that the Count’s money matters, thanks to his visits at 


THE ARISTOCRATIC WORLD. 


ail 

Madame d’ Herl)ois’, had again become involved in the 
greatest confusion, that he had lost enormous amounts 1)}’ 
gambling, that he had borrowed money at incredible rates 
of interest, had given notes whose extent had drawn him 
in beyond his depth, and that the Prince, one fine day, with 
tact and shrewdness, had succeeded in having transferred 
to himself every one of the Count's floating obligations, so 
that he had now become his fricaid’s sole creditor. 

“ Sergius Feodorovitch was" startled l)v this fact him- 
self, when he became aware of it, but the Prince passed 
the matter over A^eiy lightl}". 

‘^‘Yon rate far too highly an act of friendship, which 
was in reality very 'natural, ’ he told him. ‘I learned acci- 
dentally of the em1)arrassments in which you are involved , 
I had just then some read}^ mone}- at my disposal, and T 
took the libert}^ (jf assuming that you would prefer to be 
indebted solely to a friend, for whom }'on can perform a 
far more substantial service because of 3T>nr influence with 
the Czar. Besides, am I not under obligations to >'ou and 
Natalie for such friendship as \’onrs ! ’ 

“ A man upon the brink of a precipice who can not 
stand upright for dizziness, imagines himself saved when 
he can retreat a step or two and breathe freel}' for a 
moment, even though the ground upon which he is stand- 
ing is not firm enough to bear his weight for long. The 
Count, therefore, soon felt tranquil ; he could not extol 
sufficiently the devoted friendship of the Prince, and he 
was in fact obliged to consider it as an act of genuine 
chivalry, as Prince Titus insisted upon his keeping the 
whole matter a secret from Natalie. The Prince could rely 
upon the fulfillment of this promise, for Sergius, even with- 
out this, had ever}" reason to conceal the state of his 
finances from Natalie, but he could reckon with the same 
confidence upon the fact that Natalie would nevertheless 


40 


THE ARISTOCRATIC WORLD. 


hear of the matter, for even where the masters are silent, » 
there are the servants who notice and make remarks. * 
“The Prince’s calculations did not mislead him either jj 
on this point, and Wasil was the one to make this startling : 
discovery. The latter had hitherto been ol)liged to suffer 'i| 
constant and increasing annoyances from the Count’s cred- 
itors. All of a sudden these importunities ceased, while jj 
yet nothing had been done on the Count’s part to satisfy M 
them. A cautiously worded impiiry from Wasil at this 
time brought a reply from his master saying that every-^. 
thing had been arranged, and AYasil therefore supposed 
that the Czar, as on former occasions, had again come to j 
the rescue of his faA’orite. I 

“For some months all went its accustomed wa\'. The 
Count was alwa3's occupied with Madame d’ llerbois, as 
much as his official duties would permit. Natalie became ^ 
used to accepting the escort and attentions of the Prince j 
in sociefy, whose efforts to win the favor of the beautiful j 
woman, and his passion for her, soon l)ecame an open ; 
secret, which Natalie alone neither seemed nor wished to 
suspect, and this in fact was A'-eiy natural. She had under- : 
gone so much, her heart still clung to her husband, and 
this very passion on the Ih’ince’s part, and the adoration ' 
with which all gentlemen surrounded her, could not help 
confirming her in the hope that Sergius Feodorovitch 
would not wliolfy abandon her, that he would come to his 
senses some dav, and return to her once more. 

“The Prince allowed her plenty of time for hoping. 
Tie knew how to wait, he knew that it is foolish prenia- 
turelv to pluck the fruit, which if ripened gradually, will 
fall of itself into our hands. But at the same time patience 
has its limits, and eveiy one wishes to secure at last the 
reward of his exertions. Tfis secretary' had hitherto re- 
ceived the strictest orders not to say a word to anv one 


THE ARISTOCRATIC WORLD. 


41 


about his pecuniary affairs with the Count. Now the 
Ih’ince observed incidentally one day that he wondered 
whether the Countess had an}- knowledge of his loan. 
The secretaiA' rejoined that this could l)e very easily ascer- 
! tallied by making some casual inquiries as to whether 
^^’^asil knew anything about it, and then carrying the inves- 
tigation further. On this occasion the Prince for the first 
time did not reiterate his pre^aous command as to silence. 
On the contraiy he remained perfectly silent, observing 
after a pause : ‘ I believe that the Count has not even 

})aid his interest during the last (piarter. Or have you 
received it? ’ ^Jdie secretary replied in the negative, with 
the additional remark that even in the preceding quarter 
the payments had not been made, and that he had re- 
minded his Highness of the fact, but had received instruc- 
tions to let the matter rest. 

“The Prince did not repl}' to this. He gave his 
secretary' some documents to copy, rang for his valet to 
dress him, and when the latter had completed his task and 
the Prince had received his hat and gloves from his hands, 
to take a drive down town, he said as he passed his secre- 
tary who was l)usih' writing: ‘Marco, speak to Wash 
about having the interest for the two quarters paid up at 
once, and have the money ready for me next week.’ 

“The secretary bowed, he had comprehended his mas- 
ter. The Prince had no obligations to meet just at the 
present time ; there was sufficient cash on hand, and it was 
not easy to see wly" a large amount of ready money could 
be necessaiy to him right away. So it was not the mone}' 
which was important to the Prince, but onl}" to have the 
Countess learn how heavily lier husband, and through 
him she herself, was indebted to the Prince — to attend to 
this was now Marco’s task. 

“In the very same hour he lietook himself to tlie Man- 


42 


THE ARISTOCRATIC WORLD. 


surow pakice, called upon AVasil and performed his errand. 
He saw from the intendant’s startled aspect that he had 
not ])een informed of the transfer of the obligations, and 
he found that AVasil would hardly have the re(piisite 
amount on hand to compl}" with the Prince’s demand. 
However, this knowledge alone would benefit the Prince 
but little, and Marco entertained some doulits as to whether I 
AA'asil would do him the favor to inform the Countess of 
the situation. 

‘‘ He would ])e obliged to seek a still more certain 
source, and while he was just thinking of AATasil’s mother, 
she entered the room. Marco made a motion to withdraw*' 
but the old woman would not hear of it. AA^ith the urgenc}' 
of hospitality she pressed him to remain. He must not 
go away, she said, before he had taken a cup of tea with 
her son, before he had told her how he and his kind Master 
were getting along — and AA'asil, whether he wished it or 
not, was obliged to second his mother’s invitation, which 
Marco was soon induced to accept. 

“The old woman at heart felt an antipathy to the 
Prince and his secretaiy, but this very fact impelled her to i 
treat them with especial afiabilitv, like those evil spirits who 
are propitiated with offerings, and AAmsil had been called 
away long before, while the nurse was still sitting with 
Marco at the table upon which she had served the tea. 
The old woman was loquacious, her guest indulged her, 
and soon found that her stories had led her to the ground 
upon which he wished to liave her, for her Mistress was to ■ 
her the central point of the universe. Marco agreed with 
her in ever^dhing. Like the nurse, he extolled the beauty, 
the kindness, tlie ])enevolence of the Countess, and when 
he had thus pleased the hyal old soul, he remarked with a ' 
sigh, that it made it all the sadder when one thought of 
the poor lady’s future. i 


THE ARISTOCRATIC WORLH. 


43 


“The nurse was startled. -Wii}' do 3^011 call our 
kriMistress’ future sad?’ she inquired. Has she not got a 
handsome husband, is she not wealth}', is not our Master 
Sergius Feodorovitch favored 1)}' the Czar? ’ 

: “Marco shrugged his shoulders. ‘Favored? And for 

how much longer? ’ he rejoined, ‘ for 3'ou know Nicholas 
Paulovitch does not understand trilling and his punish- 
ihent is as rapid as his anger.’ 

“ AVh}' should he be angiy, wh}' should he punish?’ 
exclaimed Mascha, who onlv became the more zealous in 
her defence of her Master and Mistress, the more she was 
alarmed in her honest heart at the secretary’s innuendoes. 
‘I)o 3'ou mean because our Master spends a great deal of 
nione}^? Well, he is a rich man, he has a right to spend 
what is his own . . . . ’ 

“ ‘ And if that is all spent. . . . ? ’ asked Marco. 

“ ‘ All spent? AVhat do vou mean? ’ 

“ ‘ Have 3'OU never discovered, Mascha, that even a 
deep well can Ire exhausted in time? Your master has ex- 
hausted his quickl}', for he has now got to the bottom,’ 
said the secretary sarcasticall}' ; ‘ if 3'our Mistress goes 
thirst}' . . . . ’ 

“ This was too mrrch for the poor woman, and, forgeb 
1 ting that she was in her anger revealing a secret entrusted 
to her as a mere corrjecture, she exclaimed : ‘ You need 

not worry, Mr. Marco, oirr Coirntess, 1113' Natascha, has 
never 3'et failed to find something to drink. That’s what 
our master, the Czar, is there for ! ’ 

“‘The Czar? B}' no means, Mascha ! The Czar has 
rrot extricated 3'our Master from his emlrarrassments, the 
Count would have taken good care not to confess them to 
the Czar. It was the Prince, m3' Prince, who has assumed 
the Count’s debts, and the house in which 3'ou are sitting, 
as well as the chairs which we occup}', are the propert}' of 


44 


THE ARISTUCRATJC AVHRLH. 


my Prince, as soon as he has a iniiid to assert his claiml 
to them ! ’ i 

“The old AA^oman aatis frozen AAntli horror. She did.^i 
not comprehend Iioav this conld l^e possible, she refused to'd 
credit her ears, her brain, 1)ut the secretary came qiiicklA' 
to the assistance of her understanding, and laid the state ' 
of affairs so clearl}', so irrefutabh" before her, that the 
nurse, bursting into tears and imprecations, imparted to , 
her son the information she had just receiA^ed, as soon as 
he re-entered the room. ^ 

“By eA^ening the Countess AA^as aAvare of A\diat had 
happened, and of the state of her affairs.’’ 

“Of course!” exclaimed the Marquis, “and the 
Prince’s manoeuAU'e giA^es me a high idea of his shreAAul- .. 
ness. For it is realh' remarkable that diplomates in the 
transmission of certain kinds of intelligence, do not make 
far inore frequent and extensiA'e use of those subordinate 
persons AAdio can be unreserA^ed Avithout reflecting disgrace 
upon themseh^es. It is not bex-oming for a man of posi- 
tion to make a premature discoAmry, to betra}' a secret, to 
be a collector of iicaa’s — and yet these things liaA^e to be 
brought to the notice of people, or to those particular!}" 
concerned. The Avorld of the back stairs and the ante- 
room Avas created as if for this A ery purpose, if one is only 
capable of putting it unnoticed in the right place at the 
right time. An embassy really can not luiA^e too many 
servants and go-betAveens in its employ.” 

The Baron smiled at his friend’s observation, but Avas 
too much engrossed in his story to reply to it, and taking- 
up the thread of his narratiA^e resumed : 

“Just at this time the Count happened to be on duty, 
and Avas accompanying the Czar on one of his protracted 
trips Avhich required one in reality to have the Czar’s con- 
stitution to be able to endure them. 


THE ARISTOCRATIC WORLD. 


45 


“The Prince came as usual to call upon Natalie before 
she went to the theatre, but was not received. When he 
A'isited her later in her private l)ox he found her reserved 
and abstracted. He was not displeased with this fact, for 
he saw that she had lieen informed of the state of affairs, 
and waited in calm expectanc3^ He left the box sooner 
than usual, and the Countess herself did not sta}' till the 
end of the pla}^, as the Czarina gave a reception that 
evening in the small drawing-room. 

“Natalie passed the night without sleep. Her proud 
nature rebelled against the idea of being under obligations, 
which could scarce!}' be discliarged, to a man who was so 
immistakabl}' trying to win her love, and for the first time 
a passionate anger toward her husband arose in her heart. 
Sergius FeodoroA'itch had wounded her affections deepl}', 
she had suffered much at Ids hands, Init her love could 
forgive him where he had sinned against her, against her 
love, against his sacred vows — these had lieen matters be- 
tween herself and her husband, and however sorely her 
lieart had ached, no one but herself had had a right to 
Idame Sergius, to reproach him, to interfere with his 
actions or her own. Now it was different, for it could not 
l)e a matter of indifference to the Prince in what st3'le 
Sergius and Natalie lived ; he knew the state of their 
finances, he knew how rapidly the interest must accumu- 
late on the principal which he had advanced to the Count, 
as he was a daily guest in the Mansurow mansion, he 
could predict almost the very da}' and hour when it would 
no longer be possible for the Count to conceal his embar- 
rassments from the eye of the Czar, and she knew Nicholas 
Paulovitch too well to expect that he would allow mercy to 
take the place of justice a second time. 

“She took counsel with herself as to what she ought 
to do, how she should treat her husband, as well as the 


46 


THE ARISTOCRATIC WORLD. 


Prince. As hypocrisy mid calciihitioii were utterl}' repug- 
nant to her, the thought of sucli a necessity deprived her 
of all inward liberpL When the Prince called the next 
morning as usual, she would have much preferred mjt to 
receive him, and because she then told herself that it would 
be unadvisable to yield to this inclination, and in fact that 
she had every reason for not offending the Prince, it made 
her heart ache, and the valet did not know how to inter- 
pret the agitation with which she instructed him to usher 
in the Prince. 

‘‘ Calm and confident as ever, he entered the apart- 
ment. He had in his hand the bouquet which he rarely 
failed to liring her, but he stojiped in alarm, as he saw how 
she looked and heard the tone of her Amice. He had not 
expected to find her thus. He inquired Avhether an3dhing 
had happened, A\diether she had received bad news of anv 
kind, Avhether she had heard from the Count. 

‘‘She shook her head slowly in replv. ‘Nothing new 
has liappened and Avhat I have learned Avould never ha\'e 
come to m3" knowledge in a letter from the Count.’ She 
smiled ])itterl3^ and added : ‘ I am in a position where eAmn 

3"Our sympath3", 3'oiir inquiries after 1113' Avelfare, are an in- 
sult to me. You are 1113' guest no more. Prince. I am the 
guest in this house. The bracelet on 1113" arm, the ring on 
my finger, the paintings which I lirought here from 1113' 
noble father’s house — all are 3"our propert3", wheneAmr 3'ou 
no longer choose to be Sergius Feodorovitch’s creditor — 
and I am not accustomed to receiving charit3’ ! ’ 

“The Prince was alarmed, he saw that he had made a 
mistake. He had not taken into account the candid iqi- 
rightness of her character, and Natalie’s Avords Avent to his 
heart ; for what had been merel3" trifling in the beginning 
had graduall3" obtained complete control of him, and his 
desire for the loA'e of this beautiful Avoraan had become 


THE ARISTOCRATIC WORLD. 


47 


with him a veritable passion for her, which, at this moment, 
ver}’^ inopportunel}" swept him away. 

As Natalie could not reconcile herself to being so 
deeply indebted to the Prince, the idea seized him that she 
would perhaps misconstrue the motives of his actions, that 
she would not consider how friendship, love and calculation 
had combined to determine the step he had taken, and the 
Prince, usuall}" so cautious and prudent, was now blinded 
and confused by that passion which makes gamblers of 
ever}" one of ns at times, leading us to stake our all upon 
one card. 

“He grasped Natalie’s hands, he besought her in his 
most pleading eloquence, to listen to him, and then he told 
her all he had observed during these years, what he had 
felt toward her, and what he now felt, more intensely and 
more passionately than ever. Unreservedly and w'ith the 
sole purpose of justifying himself and asserting himself, 
he disclosed to Natalie everything which still remained un- 
known to her in regard to her husband’s life. He assured 
her that since he had entered her home and had learned to 
know her, he had been influenced more by his rever- 
ence for her character and her purity of soul than Ijy his 
admiration for her beauty, and as, like all brilliant and elo- 
quent speakers, he most easily convinced himself of that 
which he wdshed to make others believe, he had not half 
finished before he confidently imagined that only his desire 
to aid Natalie, to save her from cares and mortifications 
had induced him to become so intimate with Sergius 
Feodorovitch, and at last, when the danger of liankruptcy 
drew nigh, to interpose to the uttermost on his behalf 

“Natalie had little imagination; no excitement could 
blind her eyes to the truth, or compel her reason and her 
sense of honor to silence. All the protestations of the 
Prince w"ere lost upon her. He extolled his reverence for 


48 


THE ARISTOCRATIC AVORLD. 


lier, Riid she only heard his treason. For no matter how 
embittered she was against Sergius, or hoAV intensely it 
hurt her that another man assumed the right to accuse her 
husband to her, to charge him Avith infidelit}' to her, Avith 
criminal friAadit}', she 3’et could sa}" to herself : ‘ One thing 
Sergius would not haA^e done ! One thing at least ! He 
would not IniA^e liroken his promise to his friend, he would ’ 
not liaA'e declared his loA’^e to his friend’s wife, and least of 
all, at the moment Avhen she had just been informed of the 
obligations Avhich her husliand had accepted at his hands.’ H 
‘‘ The Prince had ceased speaking and Avaited anxious- 
]}' for a AA^ord from her lips. As she remained olistinately 
silent he besougiit her to reply, and, controlling herself for , 
she did not aausIi her agitation to gain the mastery OA^er 
her, she said : ‘ As I am no longer in a position to deny 

you admittance to these apartments, 3Tm will at least allow 
me to remark that I am not to lie bought. ’ 

“ She left the room ; tlie Prince AA’as beside himself 
Avith anger. But his indignation Avas not directed so much 
against Natalie as against himself. He could not forgiA^e 
himself for not liaAung retained his self-control, for not 
having won the game in which he had had eA'ervthing in 
his favor, and for having deprived himself of the adA’an- 
tages wliich his intimacy Avith Sergius FeodoroAutch ! 
gave him Avith the Czar as well as Avith Natalie. He 
was al)out to depart, neA^er to set foot in the house 
again until Natalie herself should invite him, until the 
Count's personal entreaty induced him to return. He was • 
already standing at the door leading into the A^estibule, 
when he suddenly changed his mind for the better. He 
returned, laid his hat on the table, seated liimself by the ^ 
fire and took up the book Avith which the Countess had 
been engaged AA-hen he entered. In this there Avas nothing 
unusual, for the servants aa ere accustomed to see him act 


THE ARISTOCRATIC WORLH. 


49 



like an inmate of the house, and he did not wish to leave 
, until he had had an understanding with the Countess, and 
found ways and means to retain his access to her presence 
as heretofore. 

“He did not have to wait long, for as Natalie believed 
that he had gone, she returned to the room. She stopped 
however as if turned to stone when she saw the Prince be- 
fore her, who left her no time for reflection, 
j, “‘Forgive me, Natalie, forgive my insanit}- !’ he ex- 

claimed. ‘You have observed me for years ; did never a 
[. word, a glance, reveal to 3’ou what was passing in my 
f lieart? ’ 

I 

‘•‘I did not think I should And you here!’ was all 
tliat she replied. 

“ But the Prince saw that she did not turn away again 
irom him, and resolved to take advantage of this. ‘ I am no 
longer a young man, Natalie,’ said he, ‘and you know that 
my life has hitlierto been devoted exclusiA^ely to my native 
land. 1 have never wished to think of having a family of 
1113’ own. I bore 1113" solitude without pain, in fact I was 
hardly conscious of it, until in 3’our societ3^ T learned what 
famih' life could be to me and, allow me to confess frankl3", 
what I w'ould be to a wife w4io trusted her happiness lov- 
ingh' in my hands. Only since I have known you, 1113’ 
friend, have I learned what happiness marriage can bring, 
and I have learned also that you have not found the happi- 
ness which 3T)u anticipated in your marriage with Sergius 
Feodorovitch. ’ 

“He paused as he noticed that the Countess was 
affected, and what woman would not be affected when she 
is spoken to on the subject of her unhappiness wdiicli hith- 
erto she has sought to conceal from the eyes of others. 
The tears sprang to her e3^es, she turned awa3^ from him. 
But the Prince followed her, he took her hands, saying: 


50 


THE ARISTOCRATIC WORLD. 


‘I am an honorable man, Natalie, only I am not a god ! — 
All that I wished and meant to do was to dry the tears 
which I well knew yon were weeping in secret. I had no 
intention of encouraging the Count in his extravagance, 
but onl}" to prevent you, Natalie, from lieing endangered 
by his follies. As T would ha^'e swejit from the path of 
m}^ wife every olistai'le which could have made her uneasy, 
in the same way, dear friend, I wanted to clear 3’^our path- 
way" through life. I wished to be 3'our protector, 3'our 
friend, — and m3^ entire crime against 3’ou consists in 1113’ 
having for one brief moment allowed m3" love to obtain 
the ascendanc3" over m3" friendship. Believe me, Natalie, it 
shall not happen again ! ’ 

“I said liefore that Natalie had little imagination, but, 
owing to lier nol)ilit3" of soul, she was an enthusiast ; slie 
was easy to convince liecause she was genuine and simple 
in her sentiments. That comliination of half truths and 
self deceptions in which the Prince liked to indulge when- 
ever his conscience and sense of honor happened to be 
called into play, was utterly foreign to Natalie’s nature. 
She accepted the Prince’s protestations as the complete 
truth, she confided to him the extent of her sorrow and lie- 
sought him to come to her assistance, to guide Sergius 
back to her again. 

‘•The Prince promised her everything that she wished, 
for he thought that in this office of protector and mediator, 
he would come in for his share, and, by wav of a begin- 
ning, he was satisfied with having lirought about a recon- 
ciliation with Natalie, and not having lost the right of 
admission to her presence. He asked her to conceal from 
the Count her knowledge of the transfer of his obligations 
to the Prince, but she refused to comply, and the Prince 
did not insist further, lie knew that he would not be tlie 
loser in an3' case if the two were to come to aii explana- 


THE ARISTOCRATIC WORLD. 


51 


r 

tioii ; and he had sufficient tact and foresight not to appear 
at Natalie’s except during lier hours for general receptioUj 
as long as the Count remained awaj' from home.” 

* * 

* 

Anninkoff and the Marquis had arisen and had been 
walking up and down the apartment for some little while. 
The glass doors leading into the garden were standing 
open ; the Baron drew the curtains back as the sun had left 
that side of the house b}' this time, and stepping out into 
the garden, the two gentlemen liegan to stroll leisurel^y up 
and down the garden path, in the shade of the vine- 
covered piazza. 

After they had paced the length of the walk several 
times in silence, Anninkoff resumed : 

• “ I need not describe to you in what a perilous posi- 
tion the Countess had placed herself, with such a man for 
her friend and confidant, nor the advantages which the 
latter knew how to draw from it. Even the slight struggle 
which he had had with himself, only made the affair more 
attractive to him, and the Count’s follies, as well as 
Natalie’s increasing unhappiness, might have led a man of 
stricter principles than Prince Titus laid claim to, into the 
tem})tation to appropriate to himself the treasure which its 
rightfid owner knew so little how to prize and guard. 

“Natalie received her husband with tears and re- 
proaches. She praised the Prince’s magnanimity, and yet 
she declared that she felt oppressed by it. She insisted 
upon retrenchments, suggested going to some other coun- 
try where they could economize, and ottered to request 
leave of absence for herself and her husband from the Czar, 
on the ground of her delicate health. Sergius called these 
ideas foolish, and would not listen to them a moment. 


52 


THE ARISTOCRATIC WORLD. 


"He had returned from his trip in the Czar’s suite in 
a very cheerful frame of mind. As usual, societ}" and the 
ladies had welcomed him with flattering attentions. Mme. 
d’ Herbois had greeted the returned wanderer with rap- 
tures, the Prince had inforaied him regretfull}’^ that Natalie, 
owing to the indiscretion of his secretaiy, had learned of 
the little scheme by which the Prince had sought to do a 
favor to the Count — eveiy one met him pleasantly and cor- 
dialh^, except Natalie ! It followed as a matter of course 
that he sought to avoid her, as he had no intention of com- 
plying with her wishes and demands. 

“It was summer-time. The Court was established in 
the Peterhof Summer Palace, whither the Czar also had 
repaired immediatel}" after his return, and his adjutants of 
course had followed him. Restless as Nicholas Paulovitch 
was by nature, he was in the habit of taking long walks, 
when he was staying in any of his country palaces, so that 
one evening he appeared quite unexpectedly, accompanied 
only by one of his adjutants, at the villa occupied Iw the 
widowed Princess Smailow, which was situated about three 
miles from the Summer Palace. Natalie happened to lie 
visiting the Princess at the time. 

“Unannounced and with a rapid step the Czar strode 
up the broad avenue wiiicli led from the water’s edge to 
the villa, and suddenly appeared before the two ladies, wiio 
starting up from a quiet, confidential conversation, saw^ the 
Czar standing in front of them. 

“His clear eyes saw at a glance what had lieen taking 
place here. He saw the Princess’ sympathetic air, the 
traces of tears on the Countess’ lashes, but, contrary to his 
habit, he kept his thoughts to himself He w^as apparently 
in the best of humors, cheerful and gallant, and not until 
the Princess was accompanying him to her carriage which 
he had accepted to return to the Summer Palace, did he 


THE ARISTOCRATIC WORLD. 


53 


remark: ‘If Natalie Mansiirow makes 3’OR again the con- 
fidante of her sorrows, remind her then, Princess, that it 
was I wlio became responsible to her on her wedding-da^^ 
for Sergins Feodorovitch, and, that it is not in}' will that 
she should have cause to weep ! ’ 

“ When the carriage was out of sight the two ladies 
looked at one another. The Czar had been extremely 
gracious ; he had extended his hand to them in greeting, 
and when he left had kissed them on the forehead, and yet 
it seemed to them as if a thunderbolt had struck the 
ground l)efore their very eyes, Natalie, in whose heart the 
love for Sergius was still alive, reproached herself for hav- 
ing exposed him to danger hy m^t concealing sufficiently 
the anguish which she was experiencing on account of his 
disloyalty and frivolity, and yet the Czar could not be 
aware of the full extent of her misfortunes, as he had hith- 
erto refrained from referring to the subject. 

“ The Princess was a worldly-wise woman of great ex- 
])erience ; she had herself l)een obliged to endure from her 
husl)and in her youth, and had consoled herself for every- 
thino: that she was obliged to do or leave undone against 


her better convictions, by the maxim which, as a general 
thing, is so extremely sensil)le, that self-preservation is the 
main thing. After the Prince had ruined himself l)v his 
' follies and excesses, and brought himself to a premature 
grave, she had succeeded in securing an independent and 
A’ery influential position in the Czarina’s suite, and because 
she had been able to manage her own life and fate in a 
satisfactory manner, she was A^ery willing and Avell quali- 
fied to console and encourage others. She had adopted 
; for her motto the familiar remark Avhich the Czar Alex- 
ander had uttered in his time in regard to Napoleon’s suc- 
■■ cess : ‘ It is a raging torrent, Ave must let it flow past ! ’ 

[ and the patient waiting which she looked iq)on as the high- 


54 


THE ARISTOCRATIC WORLD. 


est worldly wisdom, corresponded besides with her some- 
what phlegmatic temperament. 

“ ‘ Ah, my love,’ she exclaimed when she noticed 
the Countess’ consternation, ‘do you not see that you 
are too violent, too passionate, that you take things 
too seriously ! Who wants to sound the alarm on the 
big bell in the Kremlin if the lace in our sleeves catches 
fire ! It is true the matter is annoying, it may l)e- 
come serious — but things of this kind happen every 
day, without any house being burned down in conse- 
quence, without even a hair on our heads being rum- 
pled. You are right, m3" love ! it is a sad thing wdien 
a husband is faithless ; but how man}" wives are there who 
do not have this to endure? and tell me any means of 
preventing it ! Men like variet}" ; the more unwavering, 
therefore, the wife’s love and constanc}-, the quicker the}' 
weary of it. There is no help for it but to argue the mat- 
ter out with our good sense and wait, until the desire for 
change brings them back to us. And the rest of the irreg- 
ularities of which you complain, are really not worth men- 
tioning ! — He is stylish, he spends a great deal of money, 
he gambles high — well ! he relies on the Czar’s favor and 
he is right in doing so, for Nicholas Paulovitch is no 
Brutus ! ’ 

“The Princess smiled as she spoke and she had that 
sort of smile which appeals irresistibly to the heart and 
relieves the mind. She looked so cheery w"hile she smiled, 
that it seemed actually wrong to show her a serious or 
melancholy face in return. As she noticed that Natalie’s 
eountenance was brightening, she passed her arm around 
her young friend’s waist, and said coaxingly ; ‘ Do not be 
childish, Natascha ! Do you want to cry your l)eautiful 
eyes out, and bring wrinkles to your forehead, and grieve 
yourself to death ? What unpardonal)le foolishness ! 


THE ARISTOCRATIC WORLD. 55 

Madame d’ Herbois, to be sure, would be ver}" much 
obliged to you, and we should all endeavor to console the 
handsome Mansurow ! Yes, even the Czar himself would 
take pity on him, and Sergius would then perhaps entreat 
another favor of him, and he able to pay his debts again. 
But how would that benefit you? what makes 3 011 take the 
obligations 3’ou two are under to Prince Titus, so deeply 
to heart? The Prince has sacrificed larger sums for 
women less beautiful and charming than 3’ou. He is one 
of those men, 3’ou see, who with all their shrewdness, are 
always unsuccessful in their speculations when it is a mah 
ter in which their own heart is interested. It is his fiite 1)3' 
nature to sacrifice himself in vain — and would 3'ou prcA ent 
him from fulfilling his fate? What foolishness ! I tell 3'ou 
again. Let him do as he pleases, wait patiently, be ga3' 
and amuse 3'ourself, and, above all remember, that a wife 
ma3- console herself if she is left a widow ; l)ut if her hus- 
band is in Irkutsk or in the mines of Siberia, it is not 
proper for her to console herself, 1113' dear ” 

A sarcastic smile passed across the speaker’s face, 
otherwise so mournful ; the Marquis nodded his head : 
‘W^es!” he exclaimed, ‘Hhe3' are just so, and I must ac- 
knowledge, m3' friend, that you are a keen observer and 
have an incomparable talent for mimiciy. It actually 
seems as if I were listening to Princess Anna herself” 

“ You were acquainted with the Princess? ” the Baron 
inquired. 

“ I met her at Lucca j ust before I left for America. 
Just at that time she was engaged in consoling herself for 
the death of her husband, the Prince, and in maintaining 
her former position in life as well as she could. I learn 
with pleasure that she has succeeded in this. It enter- 
tained me to see with what comfortable and idle serenity 
she managed to preserve her equilibrium.” 


50 


THE aristocratic WORLD. 


‘‘ Her e(|iiilihrium ; what do you mean by that? ” 

“Well, 1 mean her equidistance from everything defi- 
nite. She was as far removed from ultra piety as from 
atheism, as far removed from prudishness as from wanton- 
ness, she was neither true nor false, neither good nor* had. 
neither extravagant nor economical. Every one had to 
consider her what he was himself and because she always 
knew how to adapt herself to the circumstances of the 
moment, and to the requirements or opinions of the one 
with whom she was engaged at the time, you could hear 
the most dissimilar people pass sentence upon her in the 
most dissimilar way, and only concur in one thing — each 
one always claimed that she was of the same opinion as 
himself. She w^as a l)at-like creature, a hybrid, that eveiy 
one thought he knew, and yet no one knew thoroughly. 
There are many such women, and they are sometimes 
ridiculous, sometimes uncomfortable, l)ut always dangerous 
to the inexperienced.” 

“Yes, certainly dangerous to the inexperienced,” re- 
peated the Baron. “ Natalie found this out from her own 
experience. The Princess’ observations and advice had 
cheered her, and, when we do not know what is best to l)e 
done, that adviser is the most welcome who l)ids us do 
nothing at all. The friendship between Anna (tregorievna 
and Natalie became ardent from that day forward, for 
Natalie had already reached that pass where she was 
obliged to seek a comforting point of view in order to 
have an}' peace. 

“ She said to herself that she had no influence over 
her husband, that she could not alter anything in his 
habits of life, and that she would not be able to straighten 
things out, even if she should retrench her expenditures 
and try to economize. Any noticeable change in her or 
her husband’s manner of living, would l)e sure to attract 


THE ARlSTOCHATiC WORLD. 57 

attention ; it would cause much talk and this talk 
might come to the ears of the Czar; the Count’s ene- 
mies — and what favorite at court does not have enemies? — 
might inform the Czar of the state of affairs in the Man- 
surow mansion, and to rely upon the Czar’s former for- 
bearance was a precarious thing. Why should Natalie 
anticipate a threatening future? She became more and 
more convinced that Anna (Iregorievna was right in sa}'- 
ing: ‘sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof,’ and we 
must wait for what the next day may l)ring forth. 

“Taking things easy is an art like all the rest; it 
must be acquired, and not eveiy one takes life easy who 
wishes to do so. The Countess succeeded sufficiently to 
move in societ3^-as before ; she saw the Count less and less, 
but she could not learn to conceal her jealousy and grief 
from him, and still less could she accustom herself to 
accei)t the attentions of the Prince as heretofore. She did 
not dare to dismiss him completel}', and there were hours 
too, when it was a comfort to her to know that there was 
some one ly her side who was aware of her unhappiness. 
In such hours she longed to believe in the nobility of pur- 
pose, the unselfishness of the Prince. But when he ex- 
pressed his svmpathv, when he drew near her, and she 
heard his passion vibrating in every word he spoke, nob 
withstanding his supreme efforts at self-control, then she 
would turn away from him, then his mere presence seemed 
an insult to her, and she made him suffer by a studied 
coldness for the confidence which she had just shown him. 

“ The natural consequences of all this ‘were that Ser- 
gius Feodorovitch became entirel}’ alienated from her on 
the one hand, and that, on the other, her variable demeanor 
offended the Prince, while at the same time, it stimulated 
the sensual side of his nature more and more. 

-The spring and summer passed awav. The Ih’ince 


58 


THE ARISTOCRATIC WORLD. 


had succeeded in winning the Czar’s favor for himself; he 
could now entertain the hope of being of service to the 
cause of his people, he might even indulge in the thought 
of a sovereignty for himself, which, however limited his 
dominion might be, was yet the secret aim of his ambition. 
It had always been his habit to emplo}' all means to further 
his puriiose, and to disregard no assistance, even when he 
thought that he could dispense with it for the time being ; 
hence he sustained his relations with the Count in the 
usual wa}’, although he had begun to despise him, and 
although his mind, in so far as his political plans left him 
at liberty, was passionately set upon the possession of the 
Countess. 

“He no longer disguised this fact from Natalie, and 
so far had she become alienated from her true self Iw this 
time, that she could listen to the Prince’s accusations 
against her husband with a certain satisfaction, and could 
look upon the Prince’s suit as a weapon which she could 
use against the Count. At the same time her heart was 
perfect!}' indifierent toward the Prince, and the idea of any 
disloyalty was still most decidedly far from her mind. 

“The Czar had taken several long trips during the 
summer, consequently Mansurow had been kept away from 
8t. Petersburg most of the time, and returned to the capi- 
tal in the fall, to be only the more eagerly engrossed in its 
pleasures. 

“In November 1 went to St. Petersburg. After pre- 
senting myself at court and at the minister’s, m3' first call 
was at the Mansurow palace. It was earlv in the morning, 
but I was admitted nevertheless, and saw Natalie for the 
first time since her marriage. I found her, to my horror, 
veiy much altered. Not that she had grown old or had 
b(‘come less beautiful; her beauty was still remarkable, 
but it was no longer as noble a type as of old. Her e3'es 


THE ARISTOCRATIf! WORLD. 


59 


looked forth proiidl}' and triiimpliantly, her lips wore a 
perpetual smile for every one, only at times did one see 
them quiver in a restless, bitter wa}" ; ])ut her conversation 
more plainl}- than her looks, revealed to me that she was 
unhapp3', she had lost her true self, and yet that the 
thought of her nobler past was still sufficient!}' distinct 
in her memory to make her look back upon it with a 
longing heart. 

“ I had already been told in Stockholm that Natalie 
was leading an unhappy married life, that Prince Titus was 
her avowed suitor, and the way in which she mentioned 
Sergius Feodorovitch and the Prince, showed me how 
these stories had arisen, whether they were justified by 
facts or not. But at the same time, without knowing any 
of the details, I even then had a feeling that she had not 
of her own free will chosen the path upon which she had 
entered, and although she had received me gaily and cor- 
dially enough, }’et I went from her depressed and sick at 
heart. It seemed to me as if a beautiful work of art had 
l)een mutilated, a shrine desecrated. 

“ In the hall I found Wasil waiting for me. He had 
been informed of my presence in the Mansurow mansion 
and had come down to see me. The years since his release 
from serfdom had changed him A'ery much for the better, 
and as he had always been an ambitious fellow, he had 
made it a point of honor to continue to improve himself 
only the more zealously as a free man. His joy at seeing 
me again was extreme, ])ut his glance had grown melancholy 
and even his A'oice sounded sorrowful. 

“I asked Wasil how he was getting along. He 
shrugged his shoulders. ‘ It is not a question of how I 
am getting along,’ he replied, ‘and your Excellency is not 
thinking of me, surely, for what does it matter how the 
world goes with me? We must not mourn for the dead. 


60 


THE ARISTOCRATIC AVORLD. 


as it is well that my Master and Mistress did not live to_^ 
see hoAV their Natalie is faring ! ’ f 

‘‘Then I learned from him all the particulars of that i 
which I already knew in a general way. He also came 1 
once to see me on my invitation, and after Ave had been | 
consulting for some time and in a detailed manner, what ^ 
we could do for Natalie, we came at last to the conclusion, 
as most usuall}" happens in such cases, that a third part}', I 
as a rule, can not do anything at all in such a.comjilica- J 
tion, and that the evil must be allowed to run its course. d 

“EAwy one of Wasil’s remarks piwed to me his 
powers of obseiwation and his knowledge of human nature ; • 

therefore it surprised me all the more that he seemed to be 
far less imbittered against the Count than against the 
Prince. When I drew him out upon this point, he replied 
with some hesitation that he feared less the Count’s follies 
for his Mistress’ peace of mind, than the calculating and 
politic nature of the Prince. His Mistress’ mind Avas made 
up in regard to the Count, l)ut she did not knoAV the Prince, 
although she thought she kneAV him. The Count was not 
dangerous to her, the Prince might become so any da}’. 

“I could not get him to giA’e any more definite ex- 
planation, and it seemed to me too as if he spoke the truth 
in stating that it was more an undefined fear than an opin- 
ion founded on actual facts, Avhich made him distrust the 
Prince; but to me also, the position which Natalie occu- 
pied between the two men, seemed an extremely perilous 
one, OAving to the fact that the Prince Avas passionately 
devoted to her, while she saAV that she was forsaken by 
the Count. 

“AVithout having approached any closer to Natalie, 
without even having secured a confidential interview AAdth 
her, as Avould have been only natural after our former re- 
lations, I left St. Petersburg, and some letters AA’hich I 


THE ARISTOCRATIC WORLD. 


61 


received about a couple of months later, informed me that 
the catastrophe which we had foreseen for Natalie in her 
unfortunate marriage, had occurred sooner than we had 
anticipated.” ^ 

* * 

“New Year’s Eve there was to be a court ball as 
usual, to attend which was regarded as the highest honor, 
as only relations and the most favored individuals re- 
ceived invitations. Madame d’ Herbois also wanted to cele- 
brate New Year’s Eve on her own account, so as not to be 
obliged to renounce the attentions to which such an enter- 
tainment would give occasion among her friends and 
admirers, and it was accordingl}^ agreed to keep the thir- 
tieth of December as the last day of the year at her house. 

“She had moved into a new residence a few weeks 
previously, so magnificent and so fantastic in all its appoint- 
ments that it was spoken of even in the drawing-rooms of 
the most elegant ladies ; and the larger her circle became 
and the greater her influence with prominent men, who 
were in the habit of meeting at her house and calling them- 
selves her friends, the more circumspect she began to lie in 
her behavior. She seemed to flatter herself that she could 
in some way regain her admittance into societ}', and a 
rumor was afloat that a young Prince Aarstein, who was a 
protestant like Madame d’ Herbois herself, was thinking of 
marrying her, and that the necessary preliminaries to this 
step had alread}" been arranged in France. 

“Under these circumstances she had nothing more to 
gain from Mansurow, he had even begun to inconvenience 
her. The Czar alwa3's quietl}' kept an e^^e upon his favor- 
ite’s actions, and jMadame d’ Herbois did not wish to have 
the appearance of having contributed to the Count’s ruin. 
She received him mo^-e coldb' j this however, oiiH made 


62 


THE ARISTOCRATIC WORLD. 


him more ardent, and the unmistakable encouragement -f 
which she gave Prince Aarstein at her ball, wrought | 
Sergius Feodorovitch up to such a state of excitement that I 
everybody remarked it. In this frame of mind he left the I 
dancing-hall and went into the small room where the card- « 
pla3dng was usuall}" carried on, and in Avhich this evening, « 
contrary to his usual custom, Prince Titus was the one to f 
keep the iiank. 1 

“The Count who, as a general thing, felt oppressed ] 
b}' the state of affairs between himself and the Prince, A 
seemed this evening to feel it all the more necessary for • 
him to enter brisklj^ into the game in order to preserve the ' 
appearance of ease and freedom ; but unhappily fortune 
did not smile upon him. He lost, tried his luck again and 
again onl}^ the more eagerty and hastily' ; fortune con- 
tinued to frown upon him, and as he was heated b}' wine 
and moreover passionately excited I)}- Madame d’ Herbois’ | 
coquetr}^ the extravagance of his game — for he was stak- ; 
ing enormous sums upon the cards — soon attracted the 
attention of the whole company, so that he and the Prince 
really were left to phi}^ b}' themselves. The interest of the 
spectators w^as increased by the fact that people in general 
were more or less aware of the relations existing between 
the two men, and the}' also knew how long and earnestly 
the Prince had been pa\dng court to Natalie. 

“ Mansurow at last pla}'ed like a regular madman. 
The Prince himself attempted to restrain him, with some 
joking remark ; the Count made a violent repl}'. Then the 
Prince shuffled the cards again, and those standing nearest 
him said afterward that they heard a low laugh cross his 
lips, while his eyes flashed a lightning glance, and then 
began a game that had something terrible about it even to 
our societ}' which is tolerably well accustomed to things of 
that kind. 


f 


THE ARISTOCRATIC WORLD. 63 

“Pale as death, his brow covered with beads of per- 
spiration, the Count at last arose from the gambling table. 
The Prince likewise left his place, and Mansurow, who had 
been pla3dng for some time merely on his word, was seen 
to draw the Prince aside, apparentl}^ to confer with him in 
regard to what he had lost. This was according to custom, 
but the feverish haste with which the Count seemed to 
carry on his share of the conversation, and the smile on 
the face of the Prince, struck eveiy one ; people were still 
more surprised when the two gentlemen returned, took up 
the cards once more, and the Prince drew a card from the 
pack. Thereupon, finding that fortune was still against 
him, the Count arose with pale, drawn features, and re- 
turned to the ball-room. 

“People discussed the game, the Count’s enormous 
losses, but wly' the two had returned to the card table 
again, what had really passed between the Prince and Man- 
surow, no one knew. The^" had a vague, hideous surmise 
but were careful not to mention it out of regard to the 
proprieties. However on New Year’s Eve Sergius appeared 
at court unaccompanied b}' his wife, and New Years’ Da}^ a 
strange rumor, to which no one would give credence at 
first, went the rounds.of the entire cit}-. On parade, in the 
boudoirs, ever^^where, people spoke of the flight of the 
Countess IMansurow^, the beautiful Natalie Yerefkin, with 
her husband’s intendant. 

“It was known that Sergius Feodorovitch had had a 
protracted audience with the Czar ; his troubled look was 
observed ; it was learned that Prince Titus had been to the 
chief of police, that all the Mansurow servants had been 
officially examined. At the same time all this did not 
bring back the Countess, and the servants’ statements did 
not make the matter aiy^ clearer. The^' had seen their 
mistress drive away from the palace at broad noonda)", 


64 


THE ARISTOCRATIC AVORLD. 


accompanied by her nurse. The coachman had driven her ‘ 
to the Isaac’s church, and had waited there until the close 
of the service as usual ; at last he had entered the church 
to see Avhat was keeping his Mistress so long. But to his 
amazement she was not to be found there, and then, with- ■ 
out comprehending the matter, he had driven back to the 
Mansurow palace. For hours the servants awaited the 
Countess’ reappearance; as she still remained absent, the}' | 
informed the Count, He inquired for Wasil, but the latter j 
also was missing. The Count’s demeanor contributed to J 
the complete beAvilderment of the seiwants. No one in the j 
whole house had eA^er remarked an3Thing that could be 
construed as an evidence of a secret criminal understand- 
ing betvA^een their Mistress and Wasil, but iieAxrtheless, : 
A^oices were gradually heard Avhich drew attention to the 
facts that the Countess Avas the intendant’s foster sister, 
that she had always had a great partiality for him, that he 
had been far more attached to her than to his master, and ^ 
that the nurse might perhaps liaA^e been able to guard a 
secret understanding betAveen her son and the Countess, j 
AAuthout any one else suspecting it. Even the Count j 
seemed to share in this AueAv ; his A^alet affirmed that his | 
Master was really the least surprised at the Countess’ | 
flight, \ 

O j 

“Rarely has any event produced more sensation in i 
society than this, and never was there such a total lack of 
explanations on the part of those most nearly concerned. ; 
Sergius FeodoroAutch remained unassailed in the favor and 
service of the Czar; Prince Titus, whose name had been 
occasionally heard in connection with the surmises which 
Natalie’s disappearance had given rise to, continued to 
reside in St. Petersburg as before, and associated AAuth the 
Count the same as ever, and as people have not the time 
in large cities to dwell long upon one subject, Natalie’s 


THE ARISTOCRATIC WORLD. 


65 


love for Wasil and her elopement with him, were accepted 
as the truth, the more readily because this disgraceful 
passion would serve to explain Mansurow’s alienation from 
his wife, as well as Natalie’s indifterence to the Prince’s 
attentions.” 

“ And what was the explanation? ” the Marquis ex- 
claimed, “for 3’ou, my friend, evidently know what 
happened ! ” 

“ A villainous trick ! neither more nor less ! ” the 
Baron replied, while a bitter smile flitted across liis sonilire 
countenance. “Mansurow had staked and lost his wife to 
the Prince ! ” 

“ Impossible ! ” the Marquis ejaculated. 

Anninkoff shrugged his shoulders. “Tmpossilfle? far 
from it. Both the Count and the Prince were aware that 
the former was in no position to pay the enormous debts 
which he had pledged his word of honor to pa3L Man- 
surow’ s entire existence depended iq)on the good will of the 
Prince. Then the idea suddenl}' occurred to the latter, in 
the excitement of the moment, although he had hitherto 
shown himself invarialil}" a man of honor, that Mansurow 
had one thing in his possession which was more desiralile 
to the Prince than mone}' or lands, and, taking advantage 
of the Count’s desperate situation, irresistibly impelled b}' 
his passion for Natalie which had graduall}' become uncon- 
trollable, he proposed to the Count to phi}’ for the posses- 
sion of Natalie. If the Prince lost the game, then the 
Count should be released of all his debts and Natalie 
should remain in liis possession ; if he w^on, he demanded 
nothing but that Mansurow should resign Natalie forever 
and leave her free to accept the Prince’s suit. The Count 
agreed to the bargain.” 

“The wretch!” exclaimed the Marquis; “What a 
rascall}" trick ! ” 


66 


THE ARISTOCRATIC WORLD. 


“Indeed it was a rascall}' trick,” Anniiikotf rejoined. 
“But one of those which can only be played under the 
sheltering mantle of the best society, and which can re- 
main undiscovered and nnpnnished ! ” he added, as he rose 
and paced the floor. A pause ensued for Anninkoft‘’s agi- 
tation as well as the facts he had just been relating, affected 
his listener powerfnlh'. 

When the Banm had regained command of himself, 
he resumed : “ The Count did not return home that night. 
Not until the next day did he enter the house, and then he 
left it after changing his clothes, to go to his post again. 

“ While it was still earl}’, liefore the regular hour for 
visitors, the Prince called upon Natalie. He fonnd her 
depressed, trouliled by the Count’s non-appearance during 
the night and his immediate departure — and he solved the 
problem for her; he explained to her what had taken 
place. If his intention had only lieen to sever Natalie from 
her husband by one stroke, he accomplished his purpose, 
but blinded by his passion, he overlooked the fact that he 
was making himself despicable in her eyes also. Beside 
herself with pain and indignation, she spurned him when 
he ventured to speak of love to her at this moment. Her 
resistance angered him, he swore that he would win her 
yet, that he must win her. He too had lost command of 
himself, and when a man and woman confront each other 
in such a violent passion, the restraints of civilization 
cease and the unbridled nature of each assumes control. 
The Prince was a man more than forty years of age, ])ut 
weeping, imploring, making protestations of his love and 
entreating like a very boy, and threatening, as he found 
himself scorned, he inspired Natalie with horror. He swore 
that he would not leave her, that he must and would win 
her; he was no longer himself” 


THE ARISTOCRATIC WORLD. 


07 


'“Years had passed since that morning, when Natalie 
told me the whole story, and yet her pale lips trembled, 
her eyes blazed with bitter indignation, as she recalled it. 
Placed between two men, each of wdiom inspired her with 
equal abhorrence, the only alternatives now left her, were 
to cast herself at the feet of the Czar, and implore his pro- 
tection, or else, as she said, to extricate herself from a 
position which had liecome more than she could bear, 
whichever wa}^ she turned. ‘ I was not in 1113" senses, I 
was utterl}^ beside myself,’ she said, ‘and yet I wmnted to 
do something, I was obliged to do something if I did not 
wish to lose 1113^ reason entirel3'. T saw m3’self at the 
Czar’s feet, I saw Sergius Feodorovitch sent to Siberia 
through me, I saw societ3" insulting me equalU" with its 
S3unpath3' and its condemnation, and while I was pacing 
to and fro in m3" room, incapable of remaining quiet in one 
place, in the agon3' of m3" lacerated heart, Wasil entered 
the room. He w"as frightened when he beheld me. ‘AVhat 
has happened. Mistress? ’ he asked. I told him w"ho had 
been m3" playmate, and had known me in the da3"S of my 
happiness, I told him everything, everything that I had 
passed through during the last hour. He stood speechless 
before me, and as the recital of my misery first made me 
aware of its full extent, I sank exhausted upon the floor, 
with the cry : ‘ Sa^"e me, Wasil ! save me, for I can find 

no way of escape myself!’ When I recovered conscious- 
ness, Mascha and Wasil were beside me. ‘ What do 3-011 
wish to do. Mistress,’ he asked— ‘Away ! away !’ that was 
all that I could think of Wasil hesitated. He gave me 
to understand what the consequences of my flight would 
l)e, and how difficult and dangerous it would be to accom- 
plish it. I called him a coward. A shudder passed over 
him. ‘If you had been born free, if you were my brother,’ 
I exclaimed, ‘you would not deliberate, but’ — He did not 


G8 THE ARISTOCRATIC WORLD. 

allow me to finish my sentence, but asked ^ Where do 3’ou 
wish to go, Mistress?’ — ‘B3" the road that will take me 
out of the countiy soonest and will leave the least trace be- 
hind.’ — '^Yery well!’ he rejoined. ‘Your will shall be 
done ! ’ and kneeling before me, he said gravely and sol- 
emnly ; ‘You wish it, my Mistress, and I will obey, for 
freeman or serf, 1 am }'our own ! ’ 

“ flow Wash made it possible to accomplish the 
('ountess’ flight, and how they escaped without being pur- 
sued, she did not tell me, perhaps she did not know her- 
self. But Sergius Feodorovitch was an intimate friend of 
the chief of police, and I consider it possible that, in this 
case, no one wished to discover what might have brought 
Sergius into trouble. Search was made in the interior of 
the country and in Finland, where the Countess had some 
relatives on her mother’s side, and no one learned that on 
New Year’s Eve a voung merchant with his mother and 
sister took the road for the West, in his own carriage and 
with his own horses. 

“It was the most calamitous thing that could have 
happened ; no man of calm reflection could have abetted 
Natalie in this project, but lYasil was not capable of calm 
reflection where she or the insult Avliich had been inflicted 
upon her was concerned, still less was he capable of that 
serious remonstrance and caution which might perhaps 
have brought Natalie to her senses, and led her to the feet 
of the Czar for protection, which was the onW course now 
oiien to her. In such a situation the freedom to obe}' one's 
feelings and impulses is a great misfortune, and, for this 
veiy reason, the women of the middle classes who have 
grown iq) amid narrow limitations, are, as a rule, preserved 
from the passionately imimlsive actions and their wretched 
conse(iuences, which are so often the ruin of the women of 
our society. 


£ 


THE ARISTOCRATIC WORLD. G9 

“Natalie from her childhood up, had learned to regard 
her own feelings as the first and only criterion of her 
actions. She looked upon her momentaiy feeling as the 
voice of her conscience. Her insulted, wounded and weaiy 
heart shraidv from further contest, it impelled her forth — 
so she had to go and there was no one there to keep 
her from ooino-.” 

Anninkoff sighed deeply — telling the story made his 
heart ache. “Restless, as if pursued by a demon” — he 
continued, “the Countess’ one longing was to travel on- 
ward. They had journeyed for days and nights before 
Natalie could make up her mind to even a temporary halt. 
The postillions coidd not drive fast enough for her, and 
when Wasil repeated his question as to where she wanted 
to go, he in\Tiriabl3" received only one answer : ‘ Where- 

ever you wish ! onl}' where no one knows me and no one 
can find me ! ’ 

“She uttered neither the name of the Count nor that 
of the Prince, she was sick in body and soul and entirely 
without aii}^ will of her own. In Berlin they were obliged 
to rest, as tlie Countess was attacked by a fever that made 
further travelling impossible. She refused to have a phy- 
sician summoned however, and no sooner had her fine con- 
stitution recuperated with this rest than she insisted upon 
continuing the journc}'. She had formed a plan in the mean- 
while. Since her childhood she had felt attracted toward 
the South, like all people of northern countries, and as it 
was of the utmost importance to her to hide herself from 
the search instituted by our Government, her thoughts 
turned to the islands of Italy, where the almost entire lack 
of police regulations promised her securit}'. 

“AVithout stopping in any one of the larger cities, the 
fugitives reached the rocky island of Ischia at the begin- 
ning of the loveliest season of the year, and here in the 


70 


THE ARISTOCRATIC WORLD. 


profound isolation, in the peaceful silence of scenes en- 
tirely foreign to her, Natalie utterly broke down, without 
being actually sick. ‘I had lost the power of thinking 
coherent!}", I could not even comprehend my own experi- 
ences ! ’ she told me. ‘I used to sit on the roof of our 
house the whole day long, and gaze into the distance as if 
I 'were dreaming. The contrast between the dark, icy 
waters of the Neva and the blue expanse of the sea 
sparkling in the sunshine, which washed the banks of the 
lovely island floating in its fragrance and Iflossoms, was 
not greater than the alteration in my circumstances. 
Mail}" weeks passed away without the cpiestion as to what 
was next to be done, occurring to me, and flnall}" it was 
Wasil who called my attention to it. ’ ” 

The Marquis gently shook his head. ‘‘Yes,” he ex- 
claimed. “That is just the way with ouiMvomen ! They 
grow up like the lilies of the field : the}' toil not, neither 
do they spin, and if it is not exactly our heavenly Father 
who feeds and clothes them, still they are accustomed to 
l)e provided for, and, to speak frankly, I do not like those 
women who calculate and have foresight, who economize 
and take thought for the morrow. Improvidence belongs 
to a woman as wings to an angel. The women of the 
middle classes have never had any charm for me simply 
because they are usually such thrifty housewives.” 

“And yet,” Anninkoff rejoined, “it would have been 
a blessing for Natalie if she had had a little of that thrifty, 
or rather masculine foresight without which no position in 
life is tenable for long. Wasil and ^fascha had saved iq) 
something during the many years of their comparatively 
well paid service, and the Countess had taken her jewels 
with her, that is, those which she had inherited from her 
mother and received as a wedding present from the Czar. 
But the journey had been expensive, Wasil liad l)een una- 


THE ARISTOCRATIC WORLD. 


71 


ble to bring himself to advise economy to his adored Mis- 
tress, and had provided for her at Ischia with the same 
regard to her former circumstances. Consequently the 
means which he had at his command melted rapidlv awa}", 
and although he and his mother had limited their own ex- 
penses as much as possible from the very first, 3'et he was 
finally obliged to remind the Countess that it would not be 
possible to live much longer on the proceeds of her jewels. 

“Once aroused from her exhaustion and apath^y 
Natalie advised with herself, without coming to any de- 
cision. It would not have been impossible for her to have 
returned home then. In our society wa3^s and means had 
often been found to disguise conjugal infelicities and the 
errors or even the flight of the wife, under pretexts suffi- 
ciently plausible to find acceptance where society was 
indulgent, especially when it was the will of Nicholas 
Paulovitch who laid great stress upon external decorum. 
However Natalie’s veracity protested against this pretence. 
She did not want to be represented as guilty when her 
conscience absolved her from guilt, and, above all, she 
would not return to the roof of her husband, whom she 
abhorred now as much as she had once loved. She con- 
fessed to me that she had regretted her flight, that she had 
reproached herself for not having reA^ealed ever3dhing to the 
Czar and exposed Sergius Feodorovitch. She even thought 
of appl3dng now to the Czar and entrusting her fate in his 
hands, but how could he give credence to her stor}', as 
the facts were against her, and those who alone could tes- 
tify' to her innocence and the truth of her assertions, had 
eveiT reason to deii}" her and her cause. 

“ With eveiy da}^ passed in this inward struggle, her 
despondenc}" increased, and any one in despair soon comes 
to have a false impression of the nearest as well as of dis- 
tant objects. Thus she final I3" decided upon the most ill- 


72 


THE ARISTOCRATIC WORLD. 


considered thing she could possibly liaA^e done. She wrote 
to Mansurow, upbraided him with his guilt and criminalit}' 
towards her, reminded him that she held his fate in her 
hand, that it would onl}^ require one word from her to vin- 
dicate herself in the eyes of society and to ruin him, and 
then slie promised him that she would not return but 
would leave him unassailed in his position, if he would 
bind himself to pay her an annual sum upon which, in 
some distant place, she could spend her days in the retire- 
ment to which her sorrow and her sad experiences inclined 
her wear}^ heart. 

“It was utterly in vain that Wasil represented to her 
that the Count woidd accept her offer with delight, with- 
out fulfilling the o])ligations which it imposed upon him. 
Natalie maintained that her husband had the greatest cause 
to be indulgent toward her, and she did not consider the 
fact that the possibility of justifying her flight and rein- 
stating herself in her former position, w'ould become less 
and less the longer she remained in her present condition. 

“Unfortunately Wasil was not mistaken. The Count, 
only too glad to extricate himself so easily from an exceed- 
ingly precarious situation, sent her an article of agreement 
in which he bound himself on his word of honor, to pay 
lier two thousand rubles every .year, as long as she inter- 
fered with him in no way, and the first payment, for a 
whole 3^ear in advance, was enclosed at the same time. 
Only when she held the sum in her hands which was to 
satisfy her wmnts for a whole 3'ear to come, did she realize 
completel}" what she had sacrificed, and the llussian ladies 
do not possess the elasticity" and enterprising spirit which 
supplied 3’our countrywomen, IMarquis, for example, during 
the misfortunes of the Revolution, with a thousand means 
for keeping themselves afloat. Our ladies are accustomed 
to a numerous retinue of servants ; all they learn is calcu- 


THE ARISTOCRATIC WORLD. 


7B 

lated for their own amusement, and Natalie comprehended 
as little how she could get along without servants and 
caniages, as that the idea of earning money bj: her own 
hands occurred to her. 

“ Wasil knew this and decided to help. The fact that 
one can not make mone}^ on a solitary island forced itself 
upon him. It w^as now autumn, the season when foreign- 
ers begin to arrive in Naples, and he consequently pro- 
posed to Natalie to take the money which he still had on 
hand from the sale of her jewels, rent a house there, and 
after furnishing it, rent out rooms to strangers, so that 
he and his mother could manage the house themselves and 
the Countess have a suital)le dwelling-place and attendance. 
All the objections which Natalie could raise, her dread of 
coming in contact in this way, with people who had been 
acfpiainted with her in the past — everything had to yield 
to necessity, and AVasil’s determination and good manage- 
ment ensured success from the start. He thus was able 
to announce to the Countess by the end of October, that 
an apartment was read}' for her in a well furnished house 
on the Riviera di Chiaia, and that several strangers had 
already engaged quarters in it for the winter months. 

“ Considering the circumstances, the Countess, thanks 
to IVasil’s prudence, was now situated as nicely as possible. 
She was living under her owui name with her nurse as her 
attendant, in a house in which she might be considered as 
a transient guest like the rest of the foreigners staying 
there, and if she shunned society and public places more 
than ladies of her rank are w^ont to do, other foreigners re- 
siding in the house, did so likewise, on account of their 
health. Wasil and Mascha found the greatest satisfaction 
in not allowing their IMistress to feel the want of anything, 
and unconsciously Natalie became accustomed to these 
new' surroundings. She retained her annual income for 


74 


THE ARISTOCRATIC WORLD. 


her own use, as Wasil declared it a matter of course that 
he should provide her board and lodging in the house 
which had been rented with her inonc}', and the profits from 
which supported him and his mother, and although Natalie 
had given her foster brother his freedom, 3'et the conscious- 
ness of mastership w^as so innate in her, that it did not 
oppress her to have her servants toil for her. 

“ Considerable time passed in this w^a3\ Natalie be- 
gan to appear at dinner, she made the acquaintance of sca'- 
eral families and allow^ed herself to glide into that smooth, 
eas}^ existence wdiich strangers who do not actuall}" belong 
to societv, are accustomed to lead in Ital}". She had sev- 
ered all connection wuth her former companions in life, but 
it is easier to give up one’s friends than the remembrance 
of them and of one’s own past. Natalie had to have some 
one wuth w^hom she could talk about herself, about her fate, 
her life, her hopes and fears — and Wasil had been her confi- 
dant for mail}' 3’ears. 

“As she sought refuge in him wdth her inmost 
thoughts, her presence inspired him with the courage 
which eveiy one requires wiio has to build up a future for 
himself, out of nothing, in a foreign land. Indefotigable, 
persevering, and utterly unselfish, his sole aim w’as Natalie’s 
w’elfare. He had loved her from his earliest childhood. 
She had ahva3\s seemed to him a superior being, he had 
her to thank for his desire to cultivate himself, to her he 
owed his freedom, to him she had confided herself when in 
her helpless distress she knew not where to turn, and now^ 
each smile that he saw upon her lips was his work and his 
recompense. 

“ Altered external circumstances level the differences 
betw'een persons of different ranks. In Puissia Wasil had 
never forgotten that he was Natalie’s servant, and even 
now, he still considered himself as such. But in Bussia he 


THE ARISTOCRATJC WORLD. 


75 


had served her for wages, here in Italy his reward was the 
permission to serve her. In St. Petersl)nrg he had looked 
upon it as a special favor when Natalie confided in him, 
now she had no one but him, he was her natural, her only 
frieild — she was his universe ! In St. Petersburg eveiy- 
thing had separated them, here necessit}^ brought her close 
to him. If she wished to go out, she required his escort, 
if she had aii}^ errand to l)e performed, she had to apply 
to him, and l)ecause she saw how he exerted himself, how 
happy he was to serve her without wages, it was a satisfac- 
tion to her to manifest her gratitude to liim and to make 
him forget that ly lurth and training he was so far re- 
moved from her. 

“For about a year and a half the Count forwarded his 
pa3unents punctually, then they came laggingly and finally 
ceased altogether. Natalie wrote to the Count without re- 
ceiving any reph', she implored, she threatened, bnt in 
vain, and when she finally appealed to the Czar, she was as 
a matter of course, refused assistance, with the remark 
that she certainly would not lun^e hesitated to demand her 
rights and apply liefore this for Ilis IMajesty’s favor, if she 
had not felt herself to be guilty, or if she had believed her- 
self in any waj' still worth}' of the imperial protection 
which His Majest}' had especially promised her on her 
wedding-da}'. 

“Natalie was now entirely without means, but Wasil 
liad succeeded well with his hotel, and although he had 
gradually repaid far more than the sum originally ad- 
vanced by her, he yet devised means to satisfy all her 
wants with the greatest lil)eralit}'. He supported her en- 
tirely, and although she often said that this could not 
always 1)0 the case, although she did indulge in a hope that 
some change for the better might still take place in her 
circumstances, she yet assured Wasd as fre(iuently that he 


76 


THE ARISTOCRATIC WORLD. 


was the 011I3" linraan being from whom she could accept 
such sacrifices as she would from an actuid brother, and in 
saying this she only expressed what she really felt. 

“ t^hlsil had grown dear to her, she appreciated him 
and was grateful to him. In his familiar dail}^ intercourse 
with her, he had acquired the manners of the best society 
to perfection, and Natalie was accustomed to treat him in 
a confiding, natural way, so as not to trouble him b}' her 
demands and habits. To keep him standing before her, as 
in former times, would have seemed cruel to her, when he 
had toiled until he was weaiy that nothing should be lack- 
ing to her comfort. She had at times gratefully extended 
her hand to him, he had kissed it devotedly, and often, 
seated beside her on the roof of the house, he listened un- 
til late into the night, when her heart overflowed in pas- 
sionate regrets, or when she wondered at the infatuation 
which had made her believe in the Count's love and the 
revolution in the character of this man whom she had been 
so frequentl}' warned to distrust. Wasil always ke})t per- 
fectly silent on these occasions, as he felt that such out- 
pourings of the heart do not require any answer, and this 
ver}" reserve had endeared him all the more to Natalie. 

“ Thus the}" were seated late one evening, — it was one 
of those warm summer nights when the heart opens like 
the cups of the flowers. Eveiy one in the house had re- 
tired to rest, IMascha alone was still waiting in her IMis- 
tress’ apartments for her to come down, and with the 
persistence of those who are unhapp}-, Natalie had again 
returned to the contemplation of her past life. She had seen 
the Countess Appranzin, a former friend of hers, drive by 
that day, with her husband and children by her side, and 
had turned away so as not to be recognized l)y her. The 
feeling she had experienced as she did so was still burn- 
ing in Natalie’s heart, and in the bright moonlight Wash 


THE ARISTOCRATIC WORLD. 


77 


thought he could see the quivering of her lips and the 
angry tears trembling on her e3’elashes. 

“ As usual he allowed her to proceed without inter- 
ruption, but the same causes do not always produce the 
same effects, and we have moods in which we long to hear 
our words re-echoed. Passionatel}', as her feelings were 
aroused, she exclaimed : ‘ Wh}" do you not answer me, 

Wasil? What do you think? ’ — but he did not reply, and 
when, piqued b}" his silence, she repeated her question, he 
said with a sigh ; ‘What shall I say, IMistress, that would 
comfort you or help you? Besides I ought not to say 
anything ! ’ 

“ ‘ You ought not? What can you mean? ’ 

“‘Do not ask me,’ he replied with another sigh; ‘T 
could only tell 3-011 a fairy tale, and of what avail would 
that be? ’ 

“‘A fair}' tale?’ she^ exclaimed. ‘Ah, Wash, if we 
could onl}' live over again those happ}' days, when 3^011 used 
to tell me about the angels and the good spirits, as w'e sat in 
the summer-house that looked far out over the sea. Then 
I looked upon human beings, all and eveiy one of them, as 
angels and good spirits, because I was surrounded onl}' ly 
good people.’ 

“ She sank into a rever}', her mood changed to a gentle 
one, and finall}^ she said musingl}^ : ‘ Wasil, please tell me 

one of those old fairy tales, the mere recollection of them 
does me good.’ 

“‘You have onl}^ to command, m}^ Mistress,’ he re- 
joined; and then, in the low and gentle tone to which 
Natalie had been accustomed from her childhood, he began 
to tell the story of the mysterious spring which sleeps in 
the depths of the rocky chasm, and which a giant keeps 
locked up with seven locks, and sealed with seven seals 
for only the right one can come at the right moment and 


78 


THE ARISTOCRATIC AVORLD. 


open the locks and break the seals. It is an old fairy tale, 
well known to eveiy Russian, and Natalie listened to him 
as one hearkens to the gentle rustling of the leaves, or to 
the murmur of the Avaves on a level beach, as to a long 
familiar tone, which possesses an ever fresh fascination. 
Suddenly it struck her that AVasil’s utterance Avas becom- 
ing more agitated, she sat up ; a strange accent in his voice 
surprised her. 

“^For vears and ^^ears,’ he AA\as sa5dng, ‘has the 
giant kept guard over the spring. For 3*ears and jmars 
he has told the torrent, AAdien he heard it raging and 
foaming so that it almost made his oavu lirain Avhirl : 
‘Be still, torrent, and do not dash over the barrier, 
for 3'our hour has not }'et come and woe to him aaIio 
releases 3’ou before the appointed time ! And 3^et he him- 
self has Avaited from year to year, from month to month, 
from da}^ to da}" and from hoin; to hour, and Avith eA"eiy 
da}" and every hour, w^aiting has become more difficult for 
him, and the passion in his heart has grown more and 
more intense, no matter hoAV often he has pressed his 
hands upon his heart and cried : ‘Be still ! ’ 

“Natalie had become uneasy, she rose to her feet, re- 
marking : ‘You are digressing from your fairy tale.’ 

“He seized her hands, and said: ‘Yon yourself, 
Natalie, unfastened the seA"en locks and broke the seven 
magic seals, and I said to myself : now or iieAmr has the 
appointed hour arrived ! ’ 

“‘ Wasil ! ’ cried Natalie, ‘What language is this ! ’ 

“‘The language that my heart has spoken eA'er since 
I learned to understand myself ! ’ he cried beside himself 
with love. ‘ However high you stood above me, you must 
have seen that my soul knew no thought but you alone, 
since the days of my childhood. I Avorshiped you as a 
sacred, superior being, when you in your beautiful purity 


THE ARISTOCRATIC WORLD. 


79 


dwelt ill 1113’ Master’s house. I loved, I adored 3’ou with 
all the strength of 1113’ heart, when I, a free man, saw 3 on 
neglected and iinhapp3^ in 30111* own home. And now, 
Natalie, now that the world to which 3*011 belonged and 
which separated us, is lost to 3*011 for ever, now, Natalie, as 
you 3*ourself have unsealed 1113* lips, now hear me wlien I 
sa3* that I love 3*011, that I 3*earn for you and your love, 
that I must win it and make 3*011 mine or I shall perisli, as 
surel3* as the moon shines above ns and the stars are set 
in the sk3*. Be mine, Natalie, be mine ! ’ 

“He had drawn her into his arms, but with the cr3^ : 
‘ Madman ! what have you done, how dare 3*011 .... ! ’ 
Natalie released herself and hurriedl3* left him. 

“The next morning she sent for Wasil. She had not 
allowed her nurse to remain with her the evening before, 
nor would she accept her assistance in the morning. When 
Wasil entered her apartment he was as pale as death. 

“‘You sent for me, 1113* Mistress!’ he began, before 
she had uttered a word — ‘to tell me that 3*011 wish to 
leave me.’ 

“‘Yes,’ she replied, ‘and it is well that 3*011 at least 
see what I must do.’ 

“ ‘ I should have relieved 3*011 of the necessit3* of this 
decision. Mistress, and never have looked again upon the 
light of da3*, if I had known what was to become of 3*011 
and of 1113* poor mother without me. You are both 
helpless ! ’ 

“Natalie was profoundl3" moved 133* his tone, but still 
iimre b3* the frightful change which one night of mental 
iuiguish had produced in the strong man. As he noticed 
her emotion he knelt down before her and begged as our 
serfs do; ‘Forgive me, 1113* Mistress, forgive me in the 
name of God’s mercy, for having forgotten for one hour, 
for one moment, who you are and who I am ! It shall 


80 


THE ARISTOCRATIC WORLD. 


never hajipen again ! Never, never again shall a glance, a 
word from me remind ^’Oii that I am the slave, 3’ou the 
jMistress — only sta}' ! do not go away from me, grant me 
the privilege of working and providing for }"ou as 
heretofore ! ’ 

“ ‘ Impossible ! impossible ! ’ she cried, and that was all 
she was able to utter, for her torture was ‘equal to his. Then 
Wasil arose, and with the exclamation : ‘Then it is I who 
must go ! ’ he turned awa}^ from her, and hardl}" had he left - 
the room, when a pistol shot was heard. Natalie rushed 
out. AVasil had aimed well — the ball had passed through 
his heart — he was dying.” 

* 

* * 

And again both gentlemen w^ere silent. At length 
Anninkoff continued ; “ Such violent catastrophes often 

produce in women’s lives consequences that are not to 
be foreseen. The}" turn some into sisters of charity, 
while they plunge others into the whirlpool of life, or 
wherever each one thinks she can find consolation, which 
depends upon her character and her past.” 

“And how did the Countess extricate herself from 
this matter? ” his companion asked. “What decision did 
she come to? ” 

“Natalie was fortunate, inasmuch as no alternative 
was left her. You knew the Naples of those days, so I 
need not describe to you Natalie’s position. AA^hile AA^asil’s 
mother in her despair was demanding her son from the 
Countess, the latter was obliged to submit to the inquiries 
and formalities of the police department, and to give 
information regarding AVasil’s circumstances and busi- 
ness — matters of which she had only superficial knowl- 
edge. She had up to this time studiously avoided giving 


THE ARISTOCRATIC WORLD. 


81 


any further account of herself to the embassy than was 
absolutely necessary ; but of course the suicide of a Rus- 
sian who had made his home in Naples for several years, 
wms reported by the police to our ambassador, with all the 
attendant circumstances. That same evening the Countess 
recognized in one of the ambassador’s attaches who had 
been sent to Wasil’s hotel, the son of an old acquaintance. 

“ It was a fortunate thing that there was some one to 
take an interest in her ; young Turbitschelf also offered her 
his services, as is customaiy. She desired nothing however 
but permission to leave the place, that is, her passport. 
He promised to get this for her, and inquired if she did not 
have any acquaintances among the Russians staying in 
Naples at the time ; she replied in the negative, and you 
can well imagine that her position was not such as to in- 
duce Turbitscheff to offer her any especial attentions. 
When he wished to know for what place she would have 
her passport made out, then she told me it occurred to her 
for the first time, that she must come to some decision, 
and how utterl}" forsaken and doubl}' homeless she had 
now become. The thought of buiying herself in some con- 
vent was the most welcome to her, and as she was a catho- 
lic, this plan could be carried into execution as well in 
Naples as in any other place. But it was impossible for 
the Countess to turn Mascha adrift, the woman who had 
been with her throughout her entire life, and whose own 
daughter was now a stranger to her, having been married 
young and sent back to the Yerefkin estate, which had 
long since passed into other hands. 

“ A number of da3^s passed away in this indecision, while 
she was occupied with various business matters. Wasil’s 
affairs had to be wound up ; there was money to be col- 
lected, there were bills to be paid; Turbitcheff superin- 
tended all this himself with the tact and considerateness 


82 


THE ARISTOCRATIC WORLD. 


which he had inherited from his father, but on account of 
these veiT qualities, he kept strictly within bounds ; and | 
yet Natalie, at that time, would have given a great deal to 
be able to express herself freel}’ to some human being, to 
speak of her horror, her self-accusation, her despair and j 
her weariness of life, and to hear something more comfort- I 
ing than the lamentation of the unhappy mother, who up- 
braided her incessantly, saying that Natalie’s pride would 
not let her perceive the secret pangs which her poor Wasil * 
had suffered all his life long, and that she had had no 
heart for the love of her handsome Wasil, and no mercy 
on him, no mercy, when the poor fellow could no longer 
keep silence about his love, because it had grown so that 
it almost burst his heart, and gave him no rest da}- or 
night. And Natalie herself mourned more deeply than 
any one imagined or believed, for the true-hearted man 
who had been devoted to her with his whole soul.” 

“Did it ever strike 3'ou, Baron,” the Marquis inter- 
posed, “that love and its response never meet during the 
whole life of many women? The}’ love where they are not 
loved in return, or for but a short time, and they are indif- 
ferent and cold, where they inspire the most violent pas- 
sions, even when a difference in station, or, as in Natalie’s . 
case, the lover’s former condition of servitude, does not 
bind the wings of fancy from the start. There is some- 
thing terribly cruel in this, and I must confess that I have 
often been unable to discover any fault or guilt in those 
women whom I saw fall victims to such a destiny.” 

“Natalie thought as you do, my friend,” the Baron 
responded; “but just here another equally incomprehen- 
sible side of the feminine heart presented itself The days 
of despondency during which she had thought of entering 
some convent, were succeeded by an entire rebellion 
against her lot, a passionate resistance to fate. She said 


THE ARISTOCRATIC WORLD. 


83 


to herself, no longer with exaltation, but with defiance 
that she was innocent. She did not 3’et consider it too late 
to appeal to the Czar once more ; not by letter however as 
])efore, she would go in person to seek him, cast herself at 
his feet, remind him of his promise and demand at his 
hands her husband’s punishment, and her own reinstate- 
ment in the world and in society. But to do this she 
needed assistance, and just as she was debating within her- 
self to whom she could apply and on whose aid she could 
depend, word was brought her that a compatriot of hers, 
an old acquaintance, who however did not wish to give his 
name, desired to see her. 

“ Natalie had been in the habit of avoiding encounters 
with her countrymen, and especially those introduced in 
tins way ; Imt you know the superstition to which we are 
all so lial)le at moments when we find ourselves compelled 
to some sudden decision. Like all Bussian women Natalie 
w’as addicted to this superstition, and with the thought : 

‘ God has sent him, he will rescue me ! ’ she gave orders to 
admit the stranger. Picture to yourself Natalie’s horror and 
agitation when she saw Prince Titus standing before her ! ” 

“ There are some people who are wonderfully fortunate 
in always appearing exactly at the right time ! ” interposed 
the Marquis. 

“Yes, according to what 3^011 mean b}" fortunate, and 
according to the person to whom 3'OU refer,” Anninkoff re- 
sumed. “ It was certainty not a fortunate thing for Natalie 
that Prince Titus should cross her path in life again, just 
at this particular time. As he came from St. Petersliurg 
society', he was of course aware of all that had happened to 
her Imt the regulations of that society' were so strict that 
everv gentleman had to move with outward propriety' at 
least. And finalty' : five 3'ears is a long time. It is true 
the Prince had not 3'et passed beyond the age of passion. 


84 


THE ARISTOCRATIC WORLD. 


yet the remembrance of the way in which he had contrib- 
uted to the Countess’ flight and to the total revolution in 
her life, had alwa3"s made the thought of her painful to 
him, and when, a long time after Natalie’s flight, her place 
of residence had ])ecome known in St. Petersburg, he had 
not felt inclined to follow her, as the idea could never have 
seriousl}" occurred to him of wishing to take advantage of 
that imaginary claim upon her which he had acquired in a 
moment of frenzied excitement. 

“ Their meeting therefore, with the recent grave of the 
faithful Wasil between them, was agitating and distressing 
in tlie extreme, as it could not have failed to be, after such 
an event and after the experiences of both. The Prince 
first regained his composure, as he had come with the in- 
tention of offering Natalie his advice and assistance. She 
did not reject the former, but told him of her intention of 
returning to Russia and hwing her cause before the Czar. 
The Prince dissuaded her from this — and rightly. He 
proved to her, while sparing her feelings as much as possi- 
ble, but still unmistakablv, how dark her case had oTown, 
on account of Wash’s death, whose suicide must 01113^ have 
furnished new foundation for the rumors that were circu- 
lated at the time of her flight. He did not conceal from 
her the fact that Sergius Feodorovitch himself had accused 
her of conjugal infidelit3^ even at that time, in order to ol)- 
tain his pardon from the Czar, and Natalie knew veiy well 
that the Prince spoke the truth. If she ever intended to 
return to Russia, or to secure a personal interview with the 
Czar, the moment in which the intelligence of Wasil’s sui- 
cide was being forwarded to St. Petersburg by the embassy 
in Naples, was surel3" not happil3' chosen for such a pur- 
pose, and as (|uiet waiting was besides one of the Prince’s 
characteristics, he exhorted Natalie to consider well what 
she was undertaking, before she started for Russia. 


THE ARISTOCRATIC AVORLH. 


85 


“ III the meanwhile, as she did not wish to remain in 
Naples, and indeed could not well do so, he suggested that 
she should go to Paris. She Avas inclined to this plan but, 
nncalcLilating as she had become b}' training and habit, 
and still more by her manner of life during the last few 
years, yet the question did present itself to her mind as to 
j Avhat she should li\^e upon in Paris, how she Avas going to 
support life anywhere in future, and her incapability of 
supporting herself in an}' way led to the Countess’ gradual 
downfall as surely as in the case of the poorest woman of 
the lowest class. Natalie had much intelligence, she had 
thought much, heard much, read much, but, as I said 
before, she had no accomplishments which she could have 
converted into money ; still less had she learned to work, 
in fact, the idea of working never seriously entered her 
head. The Prince guessed AAdiat Avas passing in her mind, 
he could conjecture her embarrassment, and must have 
been a A'illain and depri\XHl of all his tact, if he had not 
. been alile to invent Avays and means by which he could in- 
duce the Countess to accept assistance from him, at least 
for the moment. 

“ As soon as it could be done, slie left Naples and 
went to Paris, A\diere she established herself in a very 
modest Avay, but under her real name. 

“ Her arrival became known, and as there are always 
a number of our Avealthy young men stopping in Paris, it 
might liaA'e been sympathy or perhaps merely idle curi- 
osity, that induced one of them Avho had known her better 
than the rest in St. Petersburg, to call upon her. He 
related afterwards that he had been to see Natalie, that she 
A\^as still beautiful ; her ad\'entures only made her the more 
interesting to these young men, and after having been so 
long deprived of the society in which she Avas at home, 
Natalie found pleasure in this intercourse with persons Avho 


1 


^P) THE ARISTOCRATIC WORRt). 

•1 

at one time would perhaps have been less attractive to her. | 
Besides her loneliness oppressed her now more than ever | 
before, for she had a full understanding of the gravity of j 
her present situation and the loyal, unselfish Wasil ’was no | ■ 
longer at hand to relieve her of all cares, even of gratitude ( j 
for his efforts. She knew how irrevocabl}" her reputation j ' 
had been tarnished, and a woman ’who cannot refute this, j = 
is deprived of a powerful support against her own weak- 
ness, and must be stronger than Natalie was, if she does j 
not at last seek and learn to love the opiate of diversions, ! 
merely as a means of escaping from herself. 

“When the Prince returned to Paris in the fall, he | 
was surprised to find the Countess apparently so cheerful. | 
and that she received him so much more tranquilly and I 
confidingly than he had hoped. She still stood so high in j 
liis estimation that he felt concerned about this ; he did not f 
know how she found the means to live in such compara- 
tive luxuiy, but he soon remarked that the gentlemen b}' . ; 
whom she was surrounded, under the pretext of common ' 
courtesy, assumed the responsibilit}" of many of her ex- 
penses, and that Natalie had already become accustomed 
to close her eyes to these proceedings or to agree to them : 
readily. Hence he had no great difficulty in graduall^^ 
taking the place of these A'oung men, and Natalie believed 
him when he assured her that it was a satisfaction to him 
to relieve her at least of all care for her existence, as he ! 
should alwa3's consider himself her life-long debtor. 

“Ilnfortunatel}^ there are no worse sophists and none 
more certain of success than poverty and necessity: 
Natalie followed their dangerous precepts and commands. 
She believed ’wdiat she found convenient to believe, she? ' 
longed only for a constant variety of entertainments, she i 
did not like to think of herself, and it soon seemed a mat- 
ter of course that the Prince, whose society had really 


THE ARISTOCRATIC WORLD. 


87 


always been agreeable to her, and in whom she had reposed 
implicit confidence, until his passion made her mistrustful 
of him, should take her fate entirely into his own hands. 
He no longer spoke of his love to her, but she saw with 
pleasure that it w^as reviving in her presence, and she 
found a certain consolation in feeling herself once more 
the Natalie of other days through this love at least. The 
Prince had become calmer, this won him Natalie’s aff'ection 
more and more, and companionship with him became an 
enjoyment to her. 

“ In Paris, wdiich conceals so many similarly irregular 
intimacies in the w^hirlpool of its daily life, the Prince and 
the Countess could live together undisturbed, without at- 
tracting any essential attention, especially as they were both 
foreigners ; and wdiat the impetuous passion of the Prince 
had once been unable to accomplish, he now owed to the 
slow and uniting effect and force of habit, I might even say 
of friendship.” 

Anninkoff stopped speaking and then continued 
after a pause : “Let me be brief, iny friend, in what I 
have still to tell you. There are certain things which we 
unfortunately experience often enough, things which we 
look upon with indifference when we regard with indiffer- 
ence the persons involved in them, which we curse however 
if these persons are dear to our hearts. I will not discuss 
the question whether the Prince ever thought of a marriage 
with Natalie. A divorce might have been obtained, had 
Sergius Feodorovitch brought a charge of conjugal infidel- 
ity against his wife, and had Natalie been willing to sub- 
mit to this charge, this being the only ground for separa- 
tion acknowledged by our church. However Natalie was a 
Catholic, and it was exceedingly doubtful whether it would 
be possible to obtain the Pope’s consent to a second mar- 
riage after a divorce based upon the ground of conjugal 


88 


THE ARISTOCRATIC WORLD, 


iiifidelit}'. Besides, Prince Titus had to consider the favor 
of the Czar in eveiy respect, and the latter had kept grow- 
ing stricter in regard to the maintenance of external pro- 
priety, more and more opposed to scandal, and, to conclude, 
the Prince had no longer any reason to consider this mar- 
riage indispensable to the furtherance and gratification of 
his desires, while a marriage with a woman of Natalie’s 
reputation and position would in aii}" event have had its 
inconveniences for him. 

“The Prince supported the Countess in the most lib- 
eral way for four years ; she lived like a princess, and he 
treated her with the highest consideration as was doubly 
imperative in this case. But the freedom from care which 
was to have given Natalie inward peace, became a torment 
to her. She was always conscious of the liarrier that sepa- 
rated her from societ}" and her past, no matter under what 
luxuiy and pleasures it was concealed, and the full realiza- 
tion of her disgrace began to be more and more distressing 
to her since she was constantl}' meeting former acquaint- 
ances, and compatriots in Paris, and saw how the ladies 
shunned her, while the men sought her out so confident!}'. 
She ceased to enjo}^ herself, she lost her mental elasticit}', 
she could not forget herself nor even assume the appear- 
ance of content any more, she was surfeited and weary ; 
and a sorrowful lady lo^'e is a sad burden. 

“The Prince had much patience with her at first. He 
tried to divert her ; they traveled around constantly, but all 
in vain. Natalie felt secure in her relations with the Prince ; 
she considered him, what he so often called himself, her 
perpetual debtor, she expected that he would bear with her 
moods, and forgot that this does not go unpunished when 
there are no legal ties to bind two people together. The 
Prince’s passion was satisfied, but his ambition and his 
political plans were not, no matter how long their realiza- 


THE ARISTOCRATIC WORLD. 


89 


tioii might be deferred. His intimacy with Natalie had 
hampered him more than he had expected, and he did not 
wish to be depressed by the sight of a grief which he was 
powerless to remove. lie began to leave Natalie more fre- 
quentl}', to travel alone, finally he returned no more — and 
suddenl}' news was received that this man who was now 
over lift}' 3’ears of age, had married the daughter of a 
Hungarian magnate, after a brief courtship and engage- 
ment. He wanted to leave heirs to inherit his name and 
his plans, and his wish has been fulfilled.” 

“And Natalie?” asked the Marquis. 

“Last week it was just two years since I met her 
here,” Anninkoff replied in a suppressed voice. “ The meet- 
ing nearly broke my heart. She was no longer the beauti- 
ful Natalie A^erefkin, no longer the noble, self-poised 
woman I had known. I would that I had never seen her 
thus ! — She had grown old, had become stout, and had 
adopted the free and ea.sy wa3'S of the women in whose 
society I found her. It was a circle of beauties whose star 
had set, and some fine names among them ! ” he added with 
painful scorn. 

“ We recognized each other at once, but after the first 
meetins: Natalie avoided me. I must have been an unwel- 
come reminder to her by my mere presence. But I — I 
sought her out and learned from her what 3^011 now know. 

“ Tlie Prince had at first provided for her after forsak- 
ing her; she refused his assistance. However, this last 
manifestation of a proper sense of honor was of no benefit 
to her ! it only caused her to sink sooner below her former 
level. She wept heart-rending tears when she spoke of 
herself and described to me her life at that time. It was a 
fearful, a deplorable confession. But — no more of this ! 
These are experiences which I wisii had never occurred to 


90 


THE ARISTOCRATIC WORLD. 


me, and recollections which ought reall}' ncA^er to be 
awakened ! 

“I offered her my assistance, the assistance of a 
brother — she laughed, while the tears were running down 
her cheeks. ‘Do j^ou imagine that T still believe in the 
honor or disinterestedness of any man living? ’ she asked. 

‘ Or do you lielieve that 3'ou would be more than a man 
toward a woman like me? ’ ” 

Anninkoff spoke onh^ at intervals, his communications 
were becoming briefer and more fragmentarv, the more 
tlic}’^ made his heart ache. 

“I left her without having accomplished an3ffhing,” he 
said at last. “In the evening I saw her promenading with 
the Englishman who was her constant escort. She seemed 
cheerful. She greeted me with a smile, and exchanged a 
few words with me. The next morning Mascha sent- for 
me. The messenger added upon his own responsibilit3" 
tliat some calamit3' had occurred. I hastened to the hotel, 
the3" took me to Natalie’s room. Mascha cast herself weep- 
ing at my feet — on the bed la3" Natalie — she was dead. 
She had left a note for me. It contained nothing but the 
words : ‘ There is one refuge from our misery open to us 
all — death. To seek it is the one libert3' of which we can- 
not lie deprived — to take advantage of it is our privilege, 
and I was obliged to avail m3^self of it ])ecause I was unable 
to endure existence an3^ longer. See to 1113^ burial, Annin- 
koff, and accept m3' thanks for this service. Natalie.’ ” 

* 

* * 

The story w'as finished. The Marquis arose. “My 
poor friend ! ” he exclaimed, extending his hand to 
Anninkoff. 

“Yes, — we pass tlirough all sorts of experiences!” 


THE ARISTOCRATIC WORLD. 


91 


was all that the latter replied. He looked at his watch. 
It was nearly noon. He rang for his servant and ordered 
the wreaths which the latter had been keeping fresh, to be 
brought into the room. 

“Do 3011 wish to go with me, Marquis? ” he inquired, 
and as the Manpiis declared his readiness, the two gentle- 
men walked down the broad avenue in the shade of the tall 
chestnut trees, entirel}" through the town and up to the 
lovel3" cemeteiy be3'ond, from which such a fine view of the 
surrounding countiy is to be had. 

Natalie’s grave was quite far from the entrance. 
Silentl}" the two men stood a while beside it, after deco- 
rating it with their wreaths, and, grave and silent, the}’ 
turned to retrace their steps. 

But in the afternoon and evening, when the music of 
the liand rang out gail}’ over the promenade, the}’ circu- 
lated again among the chatting, animated crowd of men and 
women of the aristocratic world to which they belonged, 
while upon Natalie’s lonely grave on the hill the moon- 
beams and the dewdrops were softly resting. Peace to 
lier ashes ! 


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THE MAID OF OYAS. 

[From the German of Fanny Lewald.] 


Copyright, 1885, by l. schick. 





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1 HE sun shone lirightly down upon Jean Bart 
Square, in whose centre the statue of the gallant naval 
hero rises from its pedestal, representing him in a spirited, 
fantastic attitude. A few officers in scarlet uniforms were 
seated in front of the Cafe Italien drinking their coffee 
and smoking their cigars, their breasts decorated with the 
medals w^on in the Crimean War and the Italian campaign. 
The square, in which not a tree, not a leaf, not a blade of 
grass was to l)e seen, looked bare and wintry in spite of 
the sunshine, and the Flemish women wdio crossed the 
square now and then, in their large hooded mantles of 
black cloth, wdiieh even at the present day are precisely 
similar to those we see in the old (lerman and Dutch 
paintings of by-gone centuries, helped to complete the 
I wdntr}' aspect of the square. 

Five o’clock sounded from the high steeple of St. 
Eloi’s, the old w'atch-tow'er of the town. The chimes 
■ j)layed their long drawm out tune. We strolled down 
the long street, past the well-lilled warehouses, past the 
offices of ship brokers, steamship and insurance companies, 
toward the outer harbor. 

The wdiole of the inner harbor, all the docks, were 
lined with ships. Like an immense browm network, the 
masts and yards with their rigging stood out against the 


THE 31AID OF OYAS, 


6 

background of the clear blue sky, and the flags of various 
nations floated merrily on the l)reeze from the tops of tlie 
masts, proclaiming the power of the sea to unite all coun- 
tries. But among the flags and pennons the French tricolor 
predominated, for it was the liaiBor of Dunkirk which lay 
before us. 

How we happened to go to Dunkirk and take our sea 
l)athing precise!}' there, has nothing to do with my story. 
In fact it was odd and astonishing to ourselves. For what 
could take any one to Dunkirk, unless one were a mer- 
chant? and what was Dunkirk to mef 

Since my childhood’s daj’s in which I had learned that 
there was a Dunkirk in the world, I had scarcely thought 
of the place again. Only as I read the novels of Madame 
de Genlis did a faint glimmer of rememljrance dawn upon 
me of those little boxes, etc., made of shells, which are 
offered for sale in Dunkirk to this day, as in most seaport 
towns which are at the same time resorts for surf-bathing. 

But Dunkirk is a pleasant, pretty and exceedingly 
clean little city. Even the fortifications which are lacking 
in hardly aii}^ of the more important Flemish towns, do not 
circumscribe Dunkirk nor make it gloomy. The ramparts 
are covered green with turf, the fresh waves of the sea dash 
through the trenches when the tide is in, and where ships 
can ])e seen coming and going every hour, and the view 
from the estacade pier which projects far out into the 
waters of the harbor, commands a free expanse of the ocean, 
walls, gates, ramparts and drawbridges lose their effect 
upon the imagination. 

Dunkirk is not a watering-place, in the sense of a 
fashionable summer resort. To be sure there is a “ summer 
hotel” outside the city proper, where people can procure 
board and lodging, and in which a few small parlors are 
fitted up cozily for the guests to assemble in. But by far 


I 

THE MAID OF OYAS, 7 

the larger number of visitors — who are French, with but 
few exceptions — reside in. the difterent hotels within the 
cit}’, and know little or nothing of “hops,” concerts, theat- 
ricals and similar amusements. 

They go in bathing, they stroll on the magnihcent 
))each beaten as hard as a floor hy the action of the waves, 
when the tide has receded and left it free, they look at the 
ships as they come and go, they watch the waters rise and 
fall, they watch the sea-gull as it shoots like a silver arrow 
through the air in its swift darting flight, they listen to the 
roar of the ocean surges and to the low cry of the little 
})lover as it hops lightly along the wet sand on the shore, 
and they sink gradually into a dreamy lethargy, in which 
the days glide past like the waves of the ocean, save that 
they do not return like them. 

Sauntering along side by side, a group of four, with- 
out any definite purpose in view, we had passed beyond 
the inner harbor and reached the outer one, where we had 
seated ourselves upon a bench we happened to find there. 

Swiftly and with swelling sails the great Dunkirk 
pilot boat came sailing into the harbor. It had been out 
to inspect a sloop which had run aground a few days be- 
fore just in front of the entrance to the harbor, to decide 
whether it was to be removed or destroyed, and in what 
manner, as it interfered with the passage of incoming 
vessels. 

Beyond, the great steamship bound for St. Peters- 
burg, was puffing out its last masses of steam, and the 
smoke passing across the dazzling white lighthouse in 
broad stripes, breaking up then and disappearing in white 
and brownish clouds over the water. 

Visitors to the place, men, women and girls went 
past us, we did not pay much attention to them. The chil- 
dren that were with them carried shovels, pails and little 


8 


THE MAID OF OYAS. 


carts to pla}’ with in the sand. Now and then a passer-by 
l)owed to my two younger companions who were residents 
of the place ; dra 3 ^s, omnibnsses and carriages w’ere dri^^- 
ing from the town to the sea and from the sea to the town, 
and on the ramparts we saw some soldiers wrestling and 
fencing in sport, — it was a succession of impressions like 
those we get from a panorama, or a magic lantern — con- 
stantly changing and not profound, interesting lint not 
exciting, coming, without our expecting them, vanishing, 
without our missing them. 

All at once, however, T saw a girl walking past us — a 
tall, magnificent figure. A faded, light yellow cotton 
handkerchief was wound smoothly around her head and 
tied in a knot behind, concealing her hair completelv. A 
jacket of coarse blue cloth, scant and long-waisted, revealed 
the perfect outlines of the back, the arms and the bosom, 
the wretched garment being liarelv large enough to meet 
around them. Clad in a short skirt which did not reach to 
her knees, above which a weather-worn piece of yellow oil- 
cloth was bound around her waist and hips, with a basket 
on her arm, a fine but very large net strapped to a long 
i)ole which she carried on her shoulder, thus she jiassed us, 
and at once we were all aroused from our dreamy lethargy'. 

“ What a figure ! ” exclaimed one of my companions. 

“But did you see the face, the eyes and the profile? ” 
asked the other. 

“ With the exception of Fanny Ellsler I never saw a 
human being walk like that,” said T. 

“1 too was reminded of Fanny Ellsler,” the oldest of 
my companions replied, and then we sat tliere and gazed 
after the beautiful creature as long as our eyes could follow 
her. It was a delight to watch that figure, that gait. The 
bare leg, the foot with its high arched instep, were as beau- 
tiful and vigorous as in the statue of the wounded amazon • 


THE MAH) OF OYAS. 


9 


each step was harmonious and set the whole figure in grace- 
ful motion. From the back of the neck to the slender 
waist, from the full hips to the curve of the delicate ankle, 
all was S3unmetiy, all a beautiful, rhythmical undulation, 
and we had had more than an artistic delight when the 
fisher maid at last passed out of sight. 

Several days elapsed but we did not forget the beauti- 
ful apparition and were constantlv looking out for her ; we 
even inquired at our hotel whether an}^ one knew of a 
remarkable beauty among the poor women and girls who 
make a business here of catching crabs to sell. But no 
one seemed to know of such a one, no one had heard of a 
handsome fisher girl nor did we come across her again in 
the city or along the harbor. 

One afternoon when it was wind}^ and 3^et we wanted 
to take a walk, we bethought ourselves of going l)ack into 
the countiy toward Rosendael. This is the name of a vil- 
lage which stretches along both sides of the highwa3', a 
long row of houses and vegetable gardens, insignificant 
summer cottages, saloons and small hotels, the latter with 
high-sounding names, but mostty falling into ruin and 
deca3\ The recentl3' constructed, ugl3" looking church had 
nothing attractive about it, the dwellings of the farmers, 
the cabliage and fruit gardens were all alike, from the be- 
ginning to the end of the village, and however agi’eeable 
such a stretch of cultivated and fertile land may be to the 
eyes of the dweller on the seashore, there was nothing 
especially attractive about it for us, and we turned into one 
of the cross-roads at the left of the village, where we could 
see the dunes across a meadow. The dunes are a broad 
succession of sand hills. Bright colored mussel and snail 
shells have lain buried in their white sand for centuries, 
and come to the surface when the wind moves the sand, or 
when the foot of a human being walking across it stirs it 


10 


THE MAID OF OYAS. 


up. We climbed up and down, the skv had gradiiall}' 
clouded over, the evening was drawing nigh. Gray and 
dun-colored, the clouds hung low above our heads, only 
occasional!}’ did the yellow’ish glimmer of a pale sunbeam 
l)reak through the dusky gray. We had come to a small 
bowl-shaped valley, formed by the dune hills around it. 
In this place the wind had had less force than elsewhere, 
the soil had become firm, and a thick growth of different 
colored lichens coA’ered the ground. Broad and bluish- 
gray rose the beautifully notched leaves of the thistle, 
guarding the purple blossoms ; the sand thorn had grown 
here to a stately bush and was splendid with its dark red 
berries. Wild vetch, wild violets, and the dazzling white 
star of Bethlehem were ])lossoming here alone and un- 
noticed, and there w’as something so forsaken, so tragic 
about the place that even the flow’ers could not make it 
seem more cheerful — the}’ looked as if they were ])looming 
on sunken, forgotten graves. Not a sound was to be heard. 
Fearlessly the yellowish-brow’ii swallows skimmed across 
the ground close in front of us, grazing it with their w’ings 
in their oblique flight, and high above our heads a flock of 
wild geese were flying southward in long lines. 

My companions stood still; the desolateness of the 
spot had something forbidding about it. We recalled in- 
voluntarily old ballads which told of crimes committed on 
desolate wastes ; in such a place the witches might have 
met a hero like Macbeth, here might fierce hatred fight out 
alone the struggle for life and death, here might forsaken 
love weep life away in never-ending lamentations. And 
yet a bouquet from this melancholy solitude had to be 
taken home with us, as the old French song bids us gather 
the roses before they fade. While the others were cau- 
tiously cutting the sharp thistles and the prickly red thorn, 
and picking the flowers, I strolled slowly up the slope of 


THE MAID OF DYAS. ll 

the nearest hill and stopped in amazement as if before a 
magic mirror. 

.. There she sat ! It was she ! and 3^et it was not the 
same girl whom w^e had seen so lately" passing Iw with step 
so light. 

Weary and apparentlj' exhausted she crouched half 
13’ing on the ground. With her feet drawn up, her head 
resting upon her right arm, the kerchief she had worn on 
lier head held in her left hand which hung loosel3^ down, she 
was gazing fixedl3' at the ocean, which here became visible 
again for the first time, and be3^ond, far out into the dis- 
tance. She had not heard m3^ approach. Not until I 
stood 1)3" her side and bade her “Good evening,” did she 
raise her e3^es SI0WI3' to m3' face, and those e3'es were full 
of a deep, intense melanchol3', the3" were terrifying and 
yet timid, inquiring and 3'et dull — the3' had the gaze of 
insanit3'. A chill passed through m3" heart. 

“What are 3"OU doing here? ” I asked. She looked at 
me without replying. I repeated 1113" question, then she 
nodded her head slightl3' and said : “I am waiting !” — “I 
am waiting ! ” she reiterated with a deep sigh. 

“ What are 3'on waiting for? ” 

“For him !” she replied as she arose; “he is coming 
today ! ” and once more I saw before me the exquisite 
])eant3' of her form, again I saw the straiglit nose beneath 
the low narrow forehead and the large dark e3'es beneath 
the sharply defined brows. But a dull, gloomy anguish 
hovered upon the ])row, the eyes had no brilliancy and the 
smile that trembled upon her lips, was heartrending. 

“When did he go awa3'? ” I asked, sad at heart. 

“Yesterday! 3'esterday!” she rejoined, “it is long 
atJ'o ! And” — she pointed to the ocean — “that is w"here 
the3' will come again, the living and the dead ! ” 


12 


THE MATT) OF OYAS. 


Wlien she had said this, she took the kerchief she 
held in her hand and began to wave it in the air as if she 
were signaling some one approaching, then, as my com- 
panions came in sight over the hill at that moment, like a 
startled deer, she fled past them down the hill and disap- 
peared among the dimes. 

We were all veiy much startled and affected. One of 
the 3’onnger gentlemen wished to follow her, but we dis- 
suaded him for fear that it might worry the unfortunate 
girl and add to her mental confusion, and we tried to find, 
as soon as possible, the path that would lead ns to the 
most recent settlement among the dunes, the dune village 
of Oyas. 

The fishermen had built their homes on the land side 
of the dune hills, like swallows in a protecting wall. 
Singly, scattered about, wherever a hill gave promise of 
sheltering them from the wind, there the^’ lay, the ten or 
twelve little houses, each one alone in its sheltered nook. 
Willows and poplars had been set out, plants that take 
root easily' had been sown for fodder and to give strength 
and resistance to the soil upon which the fisher folk had 
estal)lished their homes, and the blue blossoms of the 
Incern, the grayish leaves of the willow and the brilliant 
light green growth of the poplar gave promise of pros- 
perity for the colony, while they made already a pretty 
contrast to the white walls and the red roofs. In front of 
each house an attempt had been made to plant a vegetable 
or potato garden ; in front of each house nets of different 
kinds were hanging out to dry. Everything was neat and 
clean, everywhere we saw children pla3’ing around the 
doors and old women and young at their work. We did 
not notice aiy men ; they were probably out at sea. 

In front of one of the houses an old, verv old woman 
was sitting. I recognized her again. She had met me on 


THE MAID OF OYAS. 


13 


the beach when the tide was out the first evening we had 
spent at Dunkirk, and on seeing that I was alone, had 
called to me : “ Go back, madame, there is going to be a 
thunder storm ! ” In spite of the deep wrinkles which cov- 
ered her face, in spite of her brown skin, tanned by the 
weather, it had struck me that this old woman must have 
been beautiful at one time, arid I had afterwards pointed 
her out to my friends. Now her resemblance to the unfor- 
tunate girl w^e had seen wandering among the dunes sur- 
prised us all, and we went up to her to inquire if she knew 
anything about the poor girl we had just left. 

The old woman let her hands fall in her lap and the 
needle rest, with which she had been mending a shrimp 
net. “ Do I know her? ” she repeated shaking her gra}" 
head sadl^^ “Yes indeed, I know her; she is my grand- 
child, my poor grandchild ! She has no longer an}' father 
or mother. They were both drowned, the two together, in 
the night of the great spring tide. Jane was a child then, 
and she has no one but me, me and my husband, who is 
old too, very old. But no one need be afraid of Jane, she 
does no harm. It takes her only once in a while and she 
comes quietly home afterwards. You would hardly believe 
it, for she is a good worker and quite sensible as long as 
she is at work.” 

“But how did it happen? ” we asked. 

“You see,” said the old woman speaking to us as we 
stood outside the sand thorn hedge which fenced in her 
little property, “you see he was the son of a neighbor and 
the two had been fond of each other from their childhood 
up. He was a few years older than she, and there are but 
few lads like him. For that very reason they took him for 
a soldier in the Marines when the ships sailed for the 
Crimea. Things went on for a long time and then there 
came a letter. He had been made a corporal and had not 


14 


THE MAID OF OYAS. 


forgotten Jane. He was coming home, he wrote, and 
going to marry her as soon as peace was declared. She 
was beside herself with joy. She was very proud now and 
we w^ere all glad because she was going to be made a lady. 
Evenings when we sat around working at our nets, she was 
always talking about him and the Cross he had won, and 
how she was going to live in town with him and take 
care of us.” 

The old woman stopped, crossed her arms on her 
l)reast and then continued after a brief pause, with that 
passive resignation characteristic of those accustomed to 
suffer: “It was not long before we had peace and the 
ships came home again, but he was not with them. He 
had been wounded at Sebastopol and was dead.” 

That is seven years ago,” one of our part}^ remarked. 
“How old is 3' our granddaughter? ” 

“She was sixteen j^ears old wdien he went to the wmr, 
and eighteen when w^e heard that he was dead. Last St. 
John’s day she was twentj^-four years old and when you 
see her 3^011 can hardl3^ believe how it reall3' is with her.” 

“And so despair made her insane? ” we asked. 

“No, not despair but hope!” replied the old woman, 
“for you see, madame, she does not believe he is dead. 
She sa3 s : ‘ He is alive and is coming to fetch me, he prom- 
ised me this and he will keep his word.’ When we have a 
wind off the sea, she goes out, for she thinks now the ship 
will come into the harbor, and when a sail comes in sight 
she is sure it is Prosper, and she takes the kerchief off 
her head and waves and waves it, and waits and waits, the 
poor child 1 And when the sun sets and the night falls, 
she comes home again and says quite contentedl v : ‘ The 
wind has changed, he cannot get in ! He will come 
tomorrow ! ’” 

The old woman took up her work again, there was 


THE MAID OF OYAS. 


15 


nothing more to tell. We inquired whether she had called 
in a physician to examine and tiy to cure the iinfortunate 
girl. 

“A physician ! ” said she, “could he bring the dead to 
life? There is no help for it, it is her fate. And she does 
not hurt any body, she is quiet and nice aliout her work, 
when any one tells her what to do.” 

“ And is there nothing that pleases her? ” 

“Oh 3*es ! ” the old woman replied, “she is fond of 
pretty dresses and ornaments, but she does not wear any- 
thing wdien it is given her. She puts it awa}^ to make her- 
self line on her w'edding day in town. She will never have 
any wedding day, poor Jane ! ” 

We had all grown sad. It seemed such a calamit}' 
to see this beaut}" thus destroyed. I^took out a little silk 
handkerchief which I had in my pocket and handed it to the 
old woman sa3dng ; “ Give that to the poor girl when she 
comes home.” 

Just then we turned to continue on our way and saw 
Jane coming down, slowly and calmly from the dunes. 
There was the same beautiful figure, the same rhythm of 
undulating motion, only her step was slow and wear}", and 
we could no longer take that delight in her appearance 
that we felt the first time we saw her. Without recogniz- 
ing us, she passed us by ; without noticing her grand- 
mother she went on into the house. 

“ We have to let her do as she likes,” the old woman 
remarked. 

“But you are well along in years,” I observed, “what 
will become of Jane w"hen you pass away? ” 

“ God alone know-s ! He will have compassion upon 
her,” she answered. 

Then we started for home. 

It had. grown dark. The air and the sea mingled 


16 


THE MAID OF OYAS. 


together, the clouds and the waves raced before the wind 
which blew keen and cutting over the sea and the dunes. 
We had to brace ourselves against it; and as we fought 
the tumult of nature, so we had to contend with the com- 
motion and strife in our thoughts, where all was rebellion 
at the sight of perfect beaut}^ thus innocently destroyed. 


INDEX TO PAGES 

OF THE 

“COLLECTION SCHICK,” 

on which may be found the first paragraphs of each page of the 
English Translation. 

O 

THE ARISTOCRATIC WORLD. 


glhh. 

German. 

English. 

German. 

English. 

German. 

PAGE. 

PAGE. 

PAGE. 

PAGE. 

PAGE. 

PAGE. 

5. . . 

,. .. 5 

34. . . 

, . ..33 

63. . . 

, . . .61 

6. . . 

... 0 

35... 

, . ..34 

64. . , 

, . .63 

7. . . 

... 6 

36... 

. ..35 

65. . . 


8. . . 

.. .. 8 

37... 

, . ..36 

66... 

, . ..64 

9... 

... 8 

38... 

. ..37 

67 .. 

. ..65 

10... 

... 9 

39. . . 

. , .38 

68... 

... 67 

11. . . 

. . .11 

40... 

. . .39 

69 . . . 

. ..67 

12. . . 

. . .12 

41. . . 

. . .40 

70... 

... 69 

13. . . 

. ..13 

42... 

. . .41 

71... 

. . .70 

14. . . 

. . .13 

43. . . 

, ..42 

72. . . 

. . .71 

15... 

. . .15 

44. . . 

. ..43 

73... 

. ..71 

16. . . 

. . .15 

45. . . 

. . .44 

74. . . 

... 73 

17. . . 

. ..17 

46. . . 

. ..45 

75. . . 


18. . . 

. ..17 

47. . . 

. ..46 

76... 

. . .74 

19. . . 

. . .19 

48... 

. ..47 

77. . . 

. ..75 

20. . . 

. ..20 

49. . . 

. ..48 

78... 

. ..76 

21. . . 

. . .20 

50. . . 

. . .49 

79. . . 

. ..77 

22... 

. ..21 

51. . . 

... 50 

80. . . 

. . .78 

23... 

92 

52... 

. ..51 

81. . . 

. ..79 

24. . . 

. ..23 

53. . . 

. ..52 

82... 

. ..81 

25 

24 

54. . . 

. . .53 

83 . . . 

. . .82 

26... 

. . .25 

55. . . 

. ..54 

84... 

. . .82 

27. . . 

. . .27 

56. . . 

. . .55 

85. . . 

. . .83 

28. . . 

. ..28 

57... 

. ..56 

86 . . 

. ..84 

29. . . 

. . .28 

58... 

. ..57 

87... 

. ..85 

30. . . 

. ..29 

59. . . 

. ..58 

88... 

. . .86 

31... 

. ..30 

60. . . 

. ..59 

89... 

. . .87 

32. . . 

. ..31 

61. . . 

. . .60 

90. . . 

. ..88 

33... 

. ..32 

62... 

...61 

91 . . . 

. ..89 


THE MAID OF OYAS. 

The pages of the English ti'anslalion of the “Maid of Oyas ” 
correspond with the pages of the German original. 





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THE MAID OF OYAS. 







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No. I. STORIES AND NOVELS by RUDOLF LINDAU. 

Hans, the Dreamer. — A short novel which recalls Bret Harte’j 
[Continued on 3d page of Cover.] 


best work. The scene is laid first in Paris, and afterwards in a Cali- 
fornia mining camp, and one of the characters especially — George 
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customs as it is interesting and amusing in its individual features. 
Love, with and minus philosophy, is the leading theme — the hero, 
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No. 2. STORIES AND NOVELS by FANNY LEWALD. 

The Aristocratic World.— A story of the Russian Court. 
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